


takes on any shape

by oh_la_fraise



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Protective Alec Lightwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-09-21 17:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9558998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_la_fraise/pseuds/oh_la_fraise
Summary: Alec hesitated.  He’d never lied to Magnus since his aborted wedding, and he wasn’t about to start now.  “You’re probably wondering how you got here, right?”Magnus shrugged.  “Magic?”Alec grinned.  Now that Magnus seemed a little more settled, his cheekiness—apparently a biological trait—was rising up.  “Yeah.  We’re still figuring out exactly what it was, but.  Something brought you to the future.  You know how warlocks live forever?”  Magnus nodded.  “Well, as an adult you live here in the city.  And you and I are best friends.”Magnus wrinkled his nose.  “I’m best friends with a white Shadowhunter?”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, first of all, the seed for this fic was planted by darcenator's wonderful fic Only the Beginning. Without spoiling anything, there's a scene in that amazing fic that made me go "huh. I want 20,000 more words of that." If you haven't read their A Matter of Time series, go read that first, because it is fantastic.
> 
> Secondly, a huge shout out to menckenschrestomethy for encouraging this ridiculousness. This started out as a "you know what would be cool?" and they basically encouraged me to write the whole thing.
> 
> This fic is mostly done, but the concept of delayed gratification is a foreign one to me.
> 
> Title is from The Runners by The Naked and the Famous.

Alec awoke gradually.

Even being still half unconscious, he knew he was at Magnus’s apartment.Waking up in his room at the Institute was a sudden experience, transitioning instantly from sleep to alertness.At the Institute, Alec was constantly on guard, whether anything was happening or not. Relaxing fully was hard when any minute he could be called for to deal with a demon infestation or receive knowledge that Valentine was on the move. 

Magnus’s loft was different.Every bit of gained awareness was a flood of sensation.The cool, soft silk sheets against his bare chest in contrast to Alec’s spartan cotton ones; the warmth of the sun radiating from the window compared to the ever permanent draft of the Institute.As Alec’s eyes fluttered open, he became aware of the best thing: a muscular arm wrapped around his waist and a solid weight pressed at his back.Even though they had been dating for awhile now, Alec never felt anything but awe when waking up entangled with Magnus. 

Alec shifted slowly, doing his best not to wake Magnus.Magnus had been called away late last night to heal a selkie child with a high fever; Alec had eventually fallen asleep alone.Magnus must have gotten back late. Alec hadn’t exactly gone to bed early himself, and Magnus had apparently been too tired to wash off his makeup, because his eyeliner was smeared, making him look like a particularly adorable raccoon. 

After using the bathroom, Alec decided to use the rare opportunity of being awake before Magnus to good use.He stumbled into the kitchen, pulling out supplies.When he’d first started spending time at Magnus’s, Magnus’s kitchen had been mostly bare.Magnus was a total foodie, but while he was a decent cook, he loathed wasting energy for it, preferring to eat out or get take out.Since Alec had been spending more time there, the pantry had gradually become almost constantly full. Alec was a grazer, and it made him feel warm to see his favorite brand of cookies that Magnus hated tucked away in the cabinet.

By the time Magnus finally appeared, yawning and rubbing his eyes, Alec had a plate full of breakfast.Magnus’s hair was stuck up on one side from where he’d been pressed against the pillow, but his make up was gone.Between his sleepy, bare face and his abs peeking out of his silk robe, he was breathtaking.Alec couldn’t resist, stepping into his space to kiss him.

Magnus grinned into the kiss.He parted his lips, and Alec’s tongue slid in, tasting the remnants of minty toothpaste.

“Good morning,” Magnus said when they finally parted.“I’m glad I decided to brush my teeth before breakfast, now.”

Alec grinned.“Good morning. I, uh, I made breakfast.”

“Lovely,” Magnus said, giving him one more peck on the cheek before grabbing a plate.

They ate in contented silence, hands intertwined on the top of table.When they finished, Magnus smiled again.“Thank you for a lovely breakfast, Alexander.”

“I burned the toast,” Alec winced.“And the eggs are over salted.”

“Hey, it’s the thought that counts.I’d rather have you here and making me bad breakfast than being alone and summoning myself a muffin.”

Alec grinned. “I think I can manage more shitty breakfasts, in that case.”

After that, they got ready together.They didn’t technically live together—Alec still had a room at the Institute—but most of his clothes had migrated into a wardrobe that had magically appeared in Magnus’s cramped bedroom a few months ago.Alec was ready fairly quickly—a quick comb through his hair and a loose fitting pair of jeans did not a lengthy routine make—so he set back to observe Magnus.Alec loved him with or without makeup, but he had to admit the eyeliner and mascara made his eyes, already striking with or without a glamor, pop even more.It was almost soothing, to watch him carefully line his eyes and run through pomade through his hair. 

When Magnus was finally ready, he snapped his fingers, making a portal to the Institute for Alec. 

“I’ll see you tonight?” Alec asked.They had a date planned for a trendy new Indian restaurant.

“Yeah.Why don’t we meet at the Institute?The restaurant is closer to there, and it’ll be a nice night; we can walk.”

“Sounds good.”Alec gave Magnus one more kiss before stepping through the portal. He walked into his office at the Institute, the portal closing with a quiet _snick_ behind him.

The rest of the day went excruciatingly slowly.With Victor leading the Institute, Alec had been largely cut out of the high level daily decisions.When Lydia had been brought in, he’d been devastated—Alec considered the Institute his birthright and was passionate about seeing it succeed.But while Lydia had the backing of the Clave to pull rank, she’d always sought Alec’s opinions, and made decisions jointly with him.Victor was interested in no such thing.Worse yet, Lydia was slowly being forced out too, cutting off Alec’s best source of information.Without the responsibility of running the Institute, he was largely left cooling his heels in his office unless he was on patrol.

At one point, Izzy popped by, shopping bag in her hand.“Here you go, Romeo,” she teased, throwing it into his lap. 

Alec breathed a sigh of relief.“ _Thank_ _you,”_ he said, pulling out a bundle of clothes.Alec had never really cared about what he wore—and he still didn’t most of the time, but he wanted Magnus to think he was attractive.Which had meant, much to his dismay, letting Izzy have a little more access to his wardrobe.They weren’t celebrating or anything tonight—just a normal dinner date—but Alec hadn’t dressed up for Magnus in awhile.

He frowned as he looked at the sport coat tucked in the bag. “You don’t think this is a little much?”

“Trust me, he’ll love it.”

Izzy helped him get ready, tugging his hair into place and adjusting his tie.When she was done, Alec had to admit the outfit looked good.She’d put him in a pair of fitted black jeans and a blue denim shirt covered in small white polka dots; a grey brown blazer and slouchy brown ankle boots.The outfit was a contrast to what he normally wore—it would be difficult to fight in the delicate shoes and constricting jacket, no matter what Izzy regularly did in her heels.It was just another reminder that, with Magnus, he didn’t have to be a warrior all the time.

Izzy had only just left when the soft woof of a portal opening sounded behind him.Magnus could only portal directly into Alec’s office, and Victor had been making noises about removing that privilege—Alec wouldn’t be surprised if he lost his office altogether, honestly.

Magnus raised an eyebrow as he took in Alec’s new outfit.Alec felt a little less silly when he realized Magnus had changed as well—Magnus always looked stunning, but his eye make up was a little bolder than it had been this morning, and his shirt a little brighter and more low cut.“Well, hello,” he said, practically purring.

Alec shrugged, blushing.“I asked Izzy for help.”

“Well, I will have to give her my compliments,” Magnus said, stepping closer. 

Whatever Izzy had accomplished on his head was quickly erased when Magnus tugged his hand through Alec’s hair.The press of Magnus’s hot mouth was so distracting that, without Alec entirely realizing they’d moved, the back of his knees hit the edge of his desk. Alec’s knees buckled with the impact, and Magnus seamlessly hoisted him onto the ledge.Alec, knowing he wasn’t light, groaned as Magnus unbuttoned the top button of Alec’s shirt, sucking a hickey onto his collarbone.

Alec pulled back reluctantly.“We’re going to miss our reservation.”

“We can get street food instead,” Magnus panted.  
  
“You’ve been wanting to try this place for weeks.”

“I know something I’d like to try more.”

Alec rolled his eyes at the innuendo.“C’mon.You know I don’t like to have sex in the Institute.It give me the creeps.”

Magnus sighed, finally stopping his assault on Alec’s neck.“ _Fine._ We’ll wait for dessert, I guess.”

Alec snorted as he buttoned his shirt back up.“Admit it, you’re only giving up because you just want to try their palak chaat.”  


Magnus shrugged, unashamed.“It’s supposed to be the best in the city.”

They emerged from the office once they'd cooled down a little more, strolling hand in hand as they walked to the exit.They still got the occasional stares, but from Alec’s perspective, things had calmed down a lot.Alec knew that most of that was due to the fact that people were too busy and stressed with Valentine’s movements to linger on Institute gossip.Having Lydia firmly on their side had helped too; the fact that she publicly showed them no ill will had gone a long way towards restoring people’s opinion of Alec.

They were nearly at the door when they heard a patter of footsteps behind them.“Alec!And Magnus.Oh, thank god.”Jackson McGrath ran up to them, panting for breath.He was a little younger and greener than Alec, and his red hair and freckles gave made him look much too innocent to be killing demons.He was new to the New York Institute, his midwestern twang more apparent in his distressed speech.“I found this weird stone on patrol and I’m pretty sure it’s cursed.It burned me when I picked it up—I just now finished healing it.Can you two come look at it?” 

Alec sighed.“Do you mind?” he asked Magnus.“We’ll just take a minute to make sure it’s nothing and then we can go.”

Magnus smiled.“Of course.As much as I want that chaat, it’s not so good as to risk innocent lives.”

Alec smiled back, squeezing Magnus’s hand. 

“I put it in one of the basement rooms,” Jackson said.“I figured if it blew up that’d be the safest place.”

“Good call,” Alec said.The rooms in the basement were built for prisoners and dangerous objects—they’d been warded and reinforced so that downworlders couldn’t use magic to hurt anyone, restrained or not. They followed Jackson into the depths of the Institute and down to one of the holding cells.He opened the door and gestured them in before following, shutting the door behind him. 

Alec flicked on the light, and blinked.The room was completely empty.

He turned back to face Jackson, Magnus turning with him. “Jackson, what—“

Jackson was drawing a silence rune on the door.The lock rune was already in place. 

Alec took a step forward.“What’s going on?”

With a dark sneer on his face, Jackson no longer looked like the innocent, mild mannered shadow hunter Alec was used to. “I’ve figured out the answer to our problem.”

Alec swore internally.He didn’t have his stele or any weapons; he never did when he was bumming around in the Institute, as they were normally easily in reach.Beside him, Magnus’s magic sparked and died, the runes of the holding cell smothering it immediately.

They’d walked right into Jackson’s trap.

“What problem?” Magnus asked.

Jackson’s gaze swiveled to Magnus, and Alec felt fear coil cold in his gut.“It was one thing when the Downworlders were our enemies.Then we protect ourself without repercussion.But now with the Accords, they pretend to be our friends, our _lovers,_ and there’s nothing we can do.But I’ve figured out how we can change that.”

Alec took a step in front of Magnus.He could practically feel Magnus’s eye roll as Magnus moved to stand beside him.

“We can’t kill them, but if we neutralized them? If they were mundanes, they wouldn’t be a threat to us anymore.”

“Jackson, think about what you’re saying.”Alec said cautiously.“This is a bad idea—“

Faster than Alec could react, Jackson threw something at Magnus.He must have activated a speed rune.The vial—Alec could see it now—shattered against Magnus’s body.A deep amber colored liquid sizzled as it made contact with his chest; for the first time since he’d met Magnus, Alec found himself regretting the deep cut shirts the warlock wore. 

Magnus screamed, pawing at his chest where the liquid seemed to be spreading.He sunk to his knees, and Alec rushed to him, but before he could get there, there was a flash of gold sparks not dissimilar to killing a demon.

When they cleared, Magnus was nowhere to be seen.

~

As Clary moved above him on the bed, her hips just barely dragging over his, Jace sent a prayer of thanks to mundanes and their paternity tests.

As she nibbled on his neck, a rush of pain shot through him.Jace shuddered, nearly throwing Clary off the bed as he bolted up.

“Jace?” Clary asked, concerned.

“Jeez,” he said.“Watch it with the teeth—“Jace stopped as another wave of pain, tinged with horrible grief, washed over him.Bile rose in the back of his throat.The pain mounted to something overwhelming—his parabatai bond _burned_ like it never had before, even when Alec had nearly died. He grabbed at it uselessly. 

“Jace?” Clary repeated, voice frantic. 

“Something—something’s bad wrong with Alec.”Jace stumbled off the bed and absent-mindedly threw on a shirt as he stumbled out the door. 

He ran, Clary hot at his heels as he ran toward where he could feel Alec.He stumbled as the anger pulsed again—whatever had happened, it was causing Alec to feel so strongly that it was radiating through the parabatai bond.He turned the corner, stepping back as he nearly collided into Alec himself.

“Alec,” he said, grabbing his parabatai by the shoulders.Alec’s eyes were wild; his nostrils flaring.“What’s going on?”

“Have you seen Jackson?” Alec asked urgently.

“Jackson McGrath?” Jace asked, confused.“No, why?”

“We need to find him,” Alec said hurriedly.“He—he—.”

“Breathe, Alec,” Jace said, squeezing his shoulders.

Alec closed his eyes, swallowing.“Magnus is dead.”

Clary gasped behind him, and Jace suddenly understood the terrible grief oozing out of Alec.“Okay, we’ll find him,” Jace reassured him softly.As much as he wanted to comfort Alec and let him cry, Jackson was still apparently on the loose after whatever had happened, and if he’d killed Magnus, he was a threat that needed to be contained.“Clary, Alec and I will find something of his and try to track him.Can you go tell Lydia and Izzy to start mobilizing a search?”  


Clary nodded, tears in her eyes as she turned away.Clary and Magnus were—had been—good friends.Jace himself had never spent much time with the warlock, but he appreciated his wry sense of humor, and, most importantly, he cared about Alec and made him happy.For that alone, Jace loved him.

Alec took off in the direction of the living quarters.Alec had shut down, Jace realized as he frantically ran to catch up with him—he was in full mission mode to try to find Jackson.It was an odd contrast, watching him stalk through the hallways in clothes nicer than he usually wore—Izzy had obviously picked them out for him for a date.Jace followed, indulging him for now—he knew the damn would break soon enough. 

As they walked down the hall, the emergency lights flickered in alarm, and shadowhunters flooded the hallway, steles and seraph blades drawn.Jace was unarmed, and Alec seemed to be too—he hoped that wherever Jackson had gone, it wasn’t to his room.They approached the living quarters, slipping into Jackson’s room.It was small like most of the first solo rooms shadowhunters got; Jackson was young enough that it probably hadn’t been long ago he’d shared with a roommate.Jace grimaced as he took in the room.It was rancid smelling.He flicked on the light; potions and chemicals littered every surface, along with thick books and pages of scrawled notes.Jace took a cautious step forward, looking at them in closer detail—descriptions of the anatomy and powers of various downworlders were scrawled across the pages.Whatever Jackson had done to Magnus, it apparently hadn’t been a spare of the moment decision. 

Alec had ignored all of the various paraphernalia around the room, heading straight for Jackson’s bed.He picked up a discarded t-shirt, holding it out to Jace.Jace stepped forward, grabbing Alec’s trembling hand around the shirt.He closed his eyes, focusing on finding Jackson.No matter how hard he searched, his mind remained blank.

“He must be cloaking himself,” Jace said needlessly.

Alec threw the shirt down and whirled around, punching the air.“Fuck!” 

Jace took a hesitant step forward, feeling the the helplessness surge through him.God, what could he even say?Alec’s shoulders hitched, and Jace reached out to grab him.Before he could, there was a furious march of footsteps—Lydia marched in, not even slightly tottering in her high black pumps.Clary and Izzy were directly behind her. 

“There’s something you all need to see,” Lydia said.

Izzy, tears in her own eyes, looked from Alec’s back to Jace.“Maybe not right now,” she said quietly. 

Lydia shook her head.“No, trust me; it’s important.It’s about Magnus.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of your wonderful comments, and a huge shout out and thank you to menckenschrestomethy for looking this over for me!
> 
> Just a note: I started writing this before we started getting Certified Magnus Backstory™️️, so a few things may be slightly off kilter with the show canon.

Alec followed Lydia and his siblings without entirely paying attention.  There was a ringing in his ears, and he felt removed from his body, as if he wasn’t entirely present.  Jace’s hand was low on his back, guiding him, but Alec felt as if he was a million miles away.   _Shock,_ his brain registered distantly.  He appreciated it, in a way; whenever his brain started on a loop of Magnus’s screams of anguish, the distant numbness took over.  Alec wasn’t looking forward to when that stopped.  

It wasn’t until Alec realized where Lydia was leading them—down the cold basement hallway towards the same room where Magnus had been murdered just a little bit before—he balked, stopping mid-stride.  Jace jerked to a halt beside him, and Lydia gestured them both forward.  Alec swallowed, trembling.  He didn’t want to go back in there for anything. The last time he’d followed someone into that room, Magnus had died. Alec trusted Lydia, but he’d trusted Jackson too.  

Jace squeezed his arm, waiting for him.  Alec nodded, and forced his heavy feet to move.  There were shadowhunters on either side of the door, standing guard with seraph blades drawn.  They must have found Jackson, Alec realized—the irony that the room where Magnus had been killed now held his killer didn’t escape Alec.

As he passed through the door, the guards at high alert following behind them, Alec had a terrible sense of deja vu.  The room seemed to be empty once again, no sign of the tragedy that had happened, and he was suddenly violently aware of the fact that he was still unarmed.  Izzy and Jace weren’t either, to Alec’s knowledge, and Alec felt something like fear trickle down his spine as he tried to back up to the thankfully still open door.

A quiet whimper caught his attention, and Alec’s eyes roamed the room again.  He blinked.  In the corner, curled up so tightly it was no wonder that Alec had missed him in the dark shadows, was a child, head buried in his knees. He was small—only six or so judging by his size.  Tiny golden legs peaked out of what looked like a red silk dress that dwarfed his tiny body.  He had a  head full of shaggy black hair, and as he briefly looked up at the newcomers, Alec saw chubby cheeks and an adorable button nose. But what made Alec nearly had a heart attack were the child’s eyes—golden and slitted like a cats.  He quickly buried his head back into his knees.

“What—" Alec breathed.

Lydia shrugged.  “A patrol looking for Jackson found him hiding.  We don’t know that it’s him.  But why else would there be an Asian child no one has ever seen with cat eyes in the last place Magnus was seen?”

“Alec, what did Jackson try to do, exactly?”  Izzy said quietly.  

Alec ran a shaky hand through his hair.  “He was on some crazy anti-Downworlder rant.  He said he’d found a way to neutralize them, turn them to Mundanes.  Then he threw some vial of liquid at Magnus and Magnus disappeared.”

“ _Great,_ ” Lydia said.

“Well, it seems to backfired,” Clary said carefully.

They stared at the child huddled in the corner.

“What now?” Jace asked.

Alec opened his mouth and closed it again.

“He probably doesn’t speak English,” Izzy finally said.  “There’s a rune for that, I just can’t remember it.”  

Lydia nodded.  “Okay, let’s go find it.”  She slipped out of the room, Izzy behind her.  The movement caused Alec to snap out of his daze somewhat.  He took a soft step forward, approaching the child slowly.

Magnus had taught him a little Indonesian here and there.  Most of what Alec knew was vastly inappropriate to say in front of a child, but there was one phrase he knew that might be useful.  Alec bent down on his knees, wincing at the tight, stiffness of his jeans, so that they were eye level.  “Siapa namamu?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t completely butchering the pronunciation.  

The child’s head shot up, eyes wide.  Alec had spent more time than he would care to admit staring dreamily into those green flecked eyes; he would know them anywhere.  His breath hitched.   _Magnus._

Magnus looked around at the various shadowhunters nervously before focusing back on Alec.  “Dimana saya? Apakah Anda akan menyakiti saya?”

“Um.”  Unless Magnus was asking where the bathroom was, he had no idea what he’d said.  “Nama saya Alec,” he tried again, smiling reassuringly.

Magnus gave a frustrated huff, and Alec’s lips twitched despite himself; it was so _Magnus._ Magnus’s eyes darted around the room again before focusing on the rune on Alec’s neck. “Nama saya ijajil,” he said quietly.

“ _Ijajil_ ,” Alec repeated slowly.  He felt guilty, in a way; Magnus had never told Alec his birth name, and Alec had never asked.  Getting something so monumental and personal out of a child seemed a little wrong.

He was distracted by Magnus’s bottom lip trembling.  He looked like he was about to cry.  Alec paused, unsure what to do.  If this bizarre situation had happened to Izzy or Jace, he would have swept them in his arms and hugged them.  But Magnus was surrounded by a room of strangers—shadowhunters, no less—and even without knowing many details, Alec knew Magnus hadn’t had the warmest of childhoods.  

Magnus bit his lip, and Alec was afraid he was going to draw blood he was biting it so hard.  

“Let’s get you somewhere a little more private, huh?” he said, mostly to himself.  It hadn’t escaped his notice that the guards that had been posted at the door were staring at Magnus curiously, and he was swamped in nothing but what Alec now recognized as the the silky shirt Magnus had been wearing earlier.  Alec stood slowly and held out his hand.

Magnus stared at him for a beat before slowly reaching out his hand.  Like his bottom lip, it was trembling. Alec wrapped his fingers around Magnus’s smaller hand, pulling him up to his feet. It was cold, and a little clammy.  Alec squeezed it gently and led Magnus out of the room.  As they walked through the halls, Alec did his best to ignore the bewildered stares of the shadowhunters combing the Institute.  Unlike when they’d been leaving for their date, which felt like a million years ago, Magnus shrunk in on himself.

When they finally made it Alec’s room, he shut the door behind them, leaving it open a crack so that Magnus wouldn’t feel completely isolated.  They stared at each other in awkward silence; Alec ran a hand over his face.  What was he supposed to do? He looked down at Magnus—now that the shock was wearing off, Alec noticed that he was covered in dust from the dingy basement, and there was a patch of dried blood on his nose as if he’d had a nose bleed.  Deciding to start there, Alec walked quickly into the bathroom and ran a washcloth under the warm tap.  When he emerged, Magnus was watching him carefully.  Alec bent down on his knees in front of him, smiling and holding the washcloth at him.  “May I?” he asked.

Magnus stared at him, but apparently he decided it was okay to trust Alec for now, because he nodded.  Alec gently reached out and scrubbed the dirt and blood off of Magnus’s face.  He could feel the tension in the small body beneath him, and Alec almost started crying.  

Just as he finished, there was a gentle knock at the door.  He turned to see Izzy standing in the doorway, a tray in her hands and a bag dangling from her wrist.  “Food and clothes.  I pulled some of Max’s old clothes from the attic that should fit him.  Clary’s going to get a cot; she’ll bring it down in a little bit.”

“Thanks, Iz,” he said, taking the bag from her.  He looked at the steaming soup on the tray questioningly.  “You didn’t make that, did you?  Remember, the idea is to make him feel _more_ comfortable.”

“Despite everyone’s opinion to the contrary, I am capable of heating up a can of soup.”

Alec stared at her, and Izzy rolled her eyes.  “Fine,” she huffed.  “Clary made it.”

Alec laughed; even he could hear the tinge of hysteria in it.  “Tell her thank you.”

“I will.”  She softened her voice.  “Are you okay?” she asked.  

“Honestly?” Alec  sighed.  “No, I’m pretty fucking freaked out at the moment.  But I just can’t deal with that right now.”

Izzy squeezed his shoulder.  “Okay.  Let me know if you need anything.  Jace is looking up the Speak in Tongues rune, and Lydia is going through Jackson’s room to see if she can find anything.”

Alec nodded.  “Thanks, Iz.”

After she left, Alec cracked the door again and looked at Magnus. “Hungry?” he asked.  Magnus stared at him blankly.  Alec sighed, wishing Jace would hurry up.  Alec patted his stomach and mimed bringing up the spoon to his mouth; Magnus’s eyes darted down towards the bowl.  Alec smiled and set it on his desk, inviting Magnus to climb up into the desk chair.  Magnus took a careful bite of the soup; apparently it was good, because he ate the next few bites ravenously.  

When he finished, Alec could see his head drooping.  Alec decided that the shirt Magnus was wrapped in would work for pajamas for now, although Magnus would probably kill him for letting him sleep in it once he was back to normal.  Alec had the fleeting hysterical thought that maybe if he dressed Magnus ugly enough, he would revert back to his older self through sheer force of rage.  He gestured Magnus towards the bed.  “Sleep,” he said.  Magnus eyed the bed and then looked back at Alec before slowly walking towards the bed.  He was a little too short to climb in by himself; he looked back at Alec, unsure.  

Alec took a few steps softly towards Magnus.  As he held out his hands to lift Magnus up, he realized just how much he towered over Magnus now.  Alec had always been taller than him, sure, but Alec was taller than everyone.  Alec was used to the broad expanse of his shoulders, the solidness of his thighs.  Magnus stepped forward, and Alec wrapped his hands under his thin shoulders, lifting him into bed.

Magnus drifted off quickly, and Aled spent a moment watching him breathe.

A few minutes later, another knock came at the door.  Jace stood in the doorway, holding a heavy book aloft.  Alec held a finger to his lips, gesturing towards the sleeping Magnus.  Jace’s eyes softened, and he stepped out into the hallway, Alec following and shutting the door.  “Sorry,” Jace grimaced, “I ran into Victor.  I managed to dodge his questions, but I’m sure he’ll come looking soon.”

“You have the rune?”

“Yeah.”  Jace had stuck his stele in the book, and as he flipped open the book to that page, Alec spotted the newly drawn rune already on his wrist.  Alec deftly copied the rune onto a spot on his forearm, stomach easing at the fact that he’d be able to communicate with Magnus again.

“Hey,” Jace said as he grabbed Alec’s upper arm, squeezing.  “You okay?”

“God.”  Alec took a shuddering breath, rubbing his hands over his face.  Things had happened so fast that he hadn’t quite had time to process things, but now that things had calmed down and Magnus was asleep, all of the emotions he’d felt earlier came crashing back.  “I thought—“  Alec’s voice cracked.  “I watched him disappear in front of me and I thought for sure he was dead.”

Jace wrapped his arms around, pulling Alec into his body.  “I know.  I felt it.”  

“God,” Alec said again.  A few tears ran down his face; Alec tried in vain to stop them, but they only came faster—before he knew it, he was sobbing so loudly he was afraid he’d wake Magnus up through the shut door.  Alec nestled his head in Jace’s shoulder, and Jace stroked his back, making comforting sounds.  

When he finally pulled away, sniffing, Jace clasped him on the shoulder again.  “He’s okay, man.  Well,” Jace grimaced, “he’s here, anyway.  And we’ll figure out how to get him back to normal.  Lydia’s mobilized forces to go after Jackson, and Izzy’s already down in the lab analyzing whatever shit he was concocting in his room.”

Alec nodded, sniffing and wiping his eyes.  “Thanks.”

“Any time,” Jace said, smiling.  He drew Alec into a hug again.  “Now I’m going to pass this around,” he said, hefting the book of runes.  

Alec watched him disappear around the corner before scrubbing a hand over his face.  God, what a day.  He dragged the cot Clary had left into his room, barely pausing to throw a sheet and blanket on top.  He was just about to collapse on top of it when he heard a whimper, so quiet at first that Alec wasn’t sure he’d actually heard it.  

He stepped quietly over to the bed.  The room was dark, but through the light of the window, he could see Magnus eyes were flickering rapidly beneath his closed eyelids.  He thrashed, whimpering again.   _Nightmare._ Alec held up his hand, hesitating.  Magnus let out a quiet cry, and Alec moved to card a gentle hand through his hair.  

Magnus quieted, settling back down into sleep.

Despite how tired he was, Alec didn’t fall asleep for a long time.

~

When Alec woke, Magnus was staring at him warily.  Alec activated the new rune on his forearm.  

“Hey, good morning.”  Alec said softly, trying to put him at ease.

Magnus just squinted more.  Even though Alec knew he was scared, in the back of his mind Alec couldn’t help but notice how adorable it was.  The big cat eyes in his little face with his chubby cheeks—Alec had always thought kids were cute, and if he could get over the weirdness of this being a miniature sized version of his boyfriend, Magnus was pretty much the most adorable child he’d ever seen.  

“You’re a shadowhunter,” Magnus said warily.

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

Alec’s eyes widened.  “Why would you say that?”

“I know I’m a warlock,” Magnus said.  “And you’re a shadowhunter.  That’s what you do.”

“Who told you that?”

Magnus looked at him like he was stupid.  “The Shadowhunters from the Batavia Institute,” he said, _duh_ heavy in his tone.  

“Well, I’m not like that, I promise.  Neither are my friends.  We like downworlders, I promise.”

Magnus looked like he didn’t believe him. “Why?”

Alec hesitated.  He’d never lied to Magnus since his aborted wedding, and he wasn’t about to start now.  “You’re probably wondering how you got here, right?”

Magnus shrugged.  “Magic?”

Alec grinned.  Now that Magnus seemed a little more settled, his cheekiness—apparently a biological trait—was rising up.  “Yeah.  We’re still figuring out exactly what it was, but.  Something brought you to the future.  You know how warlocks live forever?”  Magnus nodded.  “Well, as an adult you live here in the city.  And you and I are best friends.”

Magnus wrinkled his nose.  “I’m best friends with a white shadowhunter?”

Alec laughed.  “Hey!  I’m not that bad.  And I’m Mexican on my mom’s side.”  At Magnus’s blank look he said, “Those are people in a country south of here that come from Spain originally.”

Magnus’s face lit up.  “Hey!  I know Spain.”  His face fell again.  “The shadowhunters at the Batavia Institute told my Dad they might send me there.”

Alec wasn’t sure how to process _that_ bit of information.  “Yeah?  Do you spend a lot of time at the Batavia Institute?”

“Yeah.  Ever since my mom ki—she died. My dad’s been taking me because he says he doesn’t know what to do with me,” he said quietly.  

“Oh, I’m very sorry about your mom,” Alec said.  He felt like kicking himself.  He’d been talking to Magnus less than ten minutes, and he’d already probably traumatized him.

Magnus nodded, looking down.

“Hungry?” Alec asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

“Yeah!  But.  Um,” Magnus said, blushing.  “I have to—I drank a lot, last night.”

“Oh! Of course.”  Alec was going to get Magnus killed through sheer stupidity. “C’mon, bathrooms through here.”  Magnus followed him into Alec’s attached ensuite bathroom, eyes wide.  He probably wasn’t used to modern plumbing, Alec realized; it sometimes escaped him how old Magnus really was.  “You, uh, in there,” he said, gesturing at the toilet, “and when you’re done, you flush,” he said, reaching out and pushing the silver handle.  

Magnus jumped in surprise, but quickly stepped forward to stare at the toilet.  “Wow,” he breathed.  “Cool.”  Alec chuckled at his fascination; even as an adult, Magnus had always been curious about things he didn’t know.  “Where does it go?” he asked, looking up at Alec.  

“Uh.  There’s a pipe it goes down, and then there’s a big tunnel underground?  And it all collects there and gets cleaned.”  He showed Magnus how to wash his hands and left Magnus to it.  When Magnus emerged, he was sniffing his hands.  Alec raised an eyebrow.

“The soap smells good!”  Magnus said, defensive.

Alec laughed.  “It’s lemon basil.  You bought it for me, actually.”

“So we’re really friends?”

“Best friends,” Alec said. He left the part where _you’re my boyfriend_ out.  

Alec had Magnus change into the clothes Izzy had brought; someone had also gone out and bought some new underwear and socks.  In Max’s old sweater and khakis, Magnus looked oddly serious.  Alec made a mental note to take a picture and send it to Max; Max loved Magnus, and he’d certainly get a kick out of seeing the warlock in his clothes.  Once Alec himself was ready, Alec smiled.  “You wanna go get some breakfast?”

“We’re leaving your room?”  
  
“Yeah.  There’s a cafeteria where we all eat.”

Magnus frowned.  “What about the other shadowhunters?”

“What about them?”

“They’ll see my eyes,” he said.  “And they’ll know what I am.”

Alec frowned, contorting himself down on his knees so that he was eye level with Magnus.  Alec was so used to seeing the cat eyes at this point that it hadn’t even occurred to him that Magnus didn’t have them glamoured—he must not know how yet, Alec realized.  How was he supposed to tell Magnus no one would hurt him when Jackson, who Alec thought was harmless, was responsible for this mess in the first place?  “Hey, it’s okay,” he said. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, I promise.  And all of my friends are your friends too.  If anyone says anything to you tell me or them and we’ll take care of it okay?”

Magnus nodded. Alec couldn’t resist ruffling his hair, and Magnus giggled.  Alec grinned at the sound.

He quickly spotted Izzy, Lydia, Jace and Clary at a table in the cafeteria.  Magnus’s eyes went wide at the spread at the buffet; Alec made him a plate with a little bit of everything.  It was way too much food for a toddler, but Alec would be damned if denied Magnus anything.  At the table, everyone was bleary eyed; Izzy was clinging to a cup of coffee as if her life depended on it.  As they settled down, everyone immediately pulled out their steles.  Magnus tensed, but Alec realized they were all going to activate their newly drawn language runes.  “Hang on,” he said in English.  The way the language rune worked was odd—even though Alec had been talking with Magnus all morning, he knew as little Indonesian as he had the day before.  While Magnus heard what he spoke in Indonesian, Alec heard Magnus speak and and himself speak in English.  Switching between two languages was complicated enough without having everyone else do it to.

“Tell me what you’ve found, first?” He nodded towards Izzy and Lydia.  

Lydia’s lips quirked as Izzy dejectedly put down her coffee.  “I can handle the mission report.”  Izzy looked at her gratefully, picking the mug back up.  “We have a full manhunt for Jackson out all over the city.  So far we still haven’t been able to track him, but we have Luke’s pack involved too.  They might be able to literally sniff him out where we can’t.”

Alec nodded, and Lydia continued, “We went through his room—whatever he was concocting, he’s been at it for awhile.  Izzy was in the lab all night trying to figure out was in all of his crazy experiments.  She said it had a neutral agent—“

“ _Neutralizing_ agent,” Izzy interrupted snappily over her empty mug of coffee.  None of the elder Lightwood siblings were particularly morning people.  Lydia just snorted, waving at her to continue.  “I think it was something to eliminate a downworlder’s magic without killing them, but I need more time to figure it out.  We’re going to call in Catarina to consult—she might recognize some of the ingredients I don’t.”

Alec swallowed.  “Jesus, what a freak,” he said hoarsely.  He could still hear Magnus’s screams.

“Yeah,” Clary echoed.

Alec shook his head.  He looked down at Magnus, who’d been sitting quietly beside him.  “You wanna meet my friends, buddy?” he said, switching back to Indonesian.

Magnus looked up at him with wide eyes, nodding hesitantly.  Everyone pulled their steles out again; Alec couldn’t help but laugh as Clary swore, contorting herself to get at her ankle.  

“This Jace, Izzy, Lydia, and Clary,” he said, gesturing at each of them in turn.

Jace was the first to speak.  “Dude, did you sleep okay?  I know Alec snores.”  He made a noise like a pig, and Magnus giggled.  Alec rolled his eyes, but it seemed to have worked; Magnus unfroze and started eating. The others did their best to include him in the conversation as a normal child; Izzy asked how he liked his pancakes, and Clary promised they could draw together later.

Magnus had just finally seemed to be completely at ease when Victor walked up. “Alec, can I speak to you?” he said shortly.  

Alec went to stand up—he might as well go ahead and get it over with—when he felt a tug on his hand.  Magnus looked at him plaintively, and Alec squeezed Magnus’s hand.  “Hey, I’ll be right back.  You’re safe here, okay?”

Magnus looked unsure but nodded.

Alec felt a little bit of a loss as he let go of Magnus to follow Victor to his office, and Alec prayed that Victor got this over quickly.  

Victor settled behind his large desk and tented his fingers; he looked not unlike an angry school teacher.  “Alec,” he said in his velvet voice.  “I’d like a full recounting of what happened with Jackson and the warlock last night.”

Alec bristled at the warlock comment but bit his tongue so that he could get back to Magnus quicker.  “Jackson stopped Magnus and me when we were leaving the Institute.  Said he’d found something on patrol, and he’d put it down in one of the reinforced rooms in the basement because he thought it was dangerous.  Asked if we could look at it.  By the time we realized there was no stone, he’d locked and silenced the door.”

Alec swallowed, brought back to that awful moment that was crystallized in his mind.  “He was on some rant about how he’d figured out the answer to our problem—that he could neutralize downworlders and turn them into mundanes.  Then he threw a vial at Magnus and—“  Alec took a deep breath.  “Magnus screamed.  And then he disappeared, as if Jackson had killed a demon.”

“Well, he had in a way.  The sparks aren’t exactly surprising,” Victor said nonchalantly.

Alec narrowed his eyes.  “You don’t exactly seem upset about this.”

“Some might argue that Jackson’s idea—neutralizing downworlders without killing them—would stop the violence on mundanes without breaking the Accords.”

“ _Didn’t break the Accords?_ He was screaming in pain, Aldertree.”

“Easily justifiable enough, for those who view him and other downworlders with suspicion.”

“I don’t have to sit here and listen to this,” Alec said angrily, rising to get up.  

“Calm down, Alec.  We aren’t done yet.”  Alec sat back in his chair reluctantly—he had to pick his battles carefully when fighting Aldertree.  He had the full backing of the Clave behind him, after all.  “The fact of the matter is we have to decide whether it’s safe for him to stay here.”

Alec’s eyes widened.  “You think someone else in the Institute might be after him?”

“I meant whether _we_ are safe from _him.”_

“How can you look at Magnus right now and think he’s dangerous?”  Alec sputtered, enraged. He didn’t know how anyone could be afraid of Magnus and his gentle nature at any point, but adult Magnus was incredibly powerful and deadly in his own right if he was backed into a corner.  As he was now, the thing Alec wanted most was to find him a teddy bear and some candy.

Victor didn’t blink.  “You see a child.  Some of us see a weapon.”

“He’s a little boy! He couldn’t hurt anyone even if he wanted to.”

“You and I both know that’s not true.  He has his mark, which means he has magic.  And even if he’s harmless now, he won’t grow up to be.  How many shadowhunters have the warlocks killed?  How many shadowhunters has _Magnus_ killed?”

Alec stood fully this time, angrily pushing back his chair.  “I’m not going to listen to you accuse a hurt and scared _child_ of being a threat to a group of adult shadowhunters.”

“Alec, stop.” Victor’s voice boomed across the office, and Alec’s hand hesitated on the doorknob.  “Believe it or not, you and I are the same side.”

“Right,” Alec laughed bitterly, turning around.  “And how is that?”

“My opinion on downworlders aside, what Jackson did was unsanctioned by the Clave.  With Valentine raising the Circle again, we can’t risk another splinter rising.”

“So this is all about keeping the Clave’s control.”

“Isn’t everything?”

Alec tilted his head.  “So what do you even need me for?”

“I need you to keep doing exactly what you and your friends already are.  Keep an eye on the warlock and figure out what happened to him as we look for Jackson.  To protect us from a powerful untrained warlock, yes, but also because no doubt New York warlocks will notice their leader has gone missing sooner or later, and I trust that your. . . _unique_ relationship with him will go a long way to soothing tensions.”

Alec hesitated, but eventually nodded.   _The enemy of my enemy,_ he supposed.

Victor smiled.  “Then we’ll get along just fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on tumblr at ohlafraise.tumblr.com.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks menckenschrestomethy for looking over this for me and listening to my random head canon rants!
> 
> In case anyone was wondering, [this](http://www.mediafocus.com/stock-photo-young-indonesian-boy-in-formal-wear-pc190608.html) is the photo I'm using as my basis for bby!Magnus.

By the time Alec left Victor’s office and returned to the cafeteria, it was long since empty.  His first impulse was to find whoever was watching Magnus, but after a minute of deliberation, he headed for Izzy’s lab instead.  If he knew his sister, she would be there, still working tirelessly to get Magnus back to normal.  Beyond the fact that Izzy would drive herself into the ground for anyone Alec cared about so much, Izzy and Magnus were incredibly fond of each other in their own right.

Sure enough, he could hear the hum of a low conversation as he drew closer to the door.  Izzy slumped against the lab bench, head buried in her hands, dark strands of hair slipping from her unusually messy braid.  Lydia stood on the other side of the bench, looking as tired as Alec felt.   They both looked up when he knocked.  “Alec, thank god,” Lydia said.  “Will you please tell your sister she needs to sleep?”

“ _ I’m fine,”  _ Izzy insisted.  It was clear it wasn’t the first time she’d said it.

“You should rest,” he agreed.  “But first, I need to talk to both of you about something.”

They looked at him expectantly.  “Can you hide the results of whatever you find from Aldertree?” he asked.  

Alec knew Izzy would agree, especially once he explained his reasoning, but he was less sure about Lydia.  He and Lydia had an odd relationship.  They were incredibly similar in a lot of ways; Alec had chosen her to marry because he had figured that, if he couldn’t marry someone he loved, at least he could marry someone he respected, and might even grow to like.  Even though it had never been verbalized between them, it had been clear that their marriage was solely a partnership to keep control of the Institute; Lydia, Alec knew, wouldn’t have expected much in the way of husbandly duties from him.

There was no way he could hide Jackson’s motivations from Aldertree without Lydia’s support.  Alec was pretty sure that she would help them, but he’d never quite forgotten that she’d been willing to go along with the Clave at first when Izzy had been put on trial.  Lydia was a compassionate person, but she also had a somewhat ruthless thirst for power that was uncomfortably familiar to Alec.  But he’d also seen her put that thirst aside—both at Izzy’s trial and at their wedding—to keep others safe.  Alec hoped that trait would prevail here.

She blinked.  “You want us to lie to the Clave?  You’d better have a good reason.”

“Aldertree seemed a little too interested in Jackson’s methods,” he said. “I think we’re okay for now—he wants to find Jackson as badly as we do—but he seems more worried about preventing another Circle than the torture of innocent downworlders.  If he had the means himself, who knows what he would do.”

They both stared at him.  “You really think he’d use Jackson’s potion?” Lydia asked incredulously.  

“I don’t know,” Alec said honestly.  “But I don’t want to take that chance.”

The girls looked at each other quietly before turning back to Alec.  “Okay,” Lydia said finally.  Relief swept through Alec.  “He’s letting me handle the search for Jackson, now—we still have to catch him, but once we do, they’ll pry however he made the potion out of him.  We’ll have to figure out something before then.”

Izzy nodded.  “Back to work, then.”

Lydia groaned.  “Oh my god!  You’re not going to be of any use to anyone if you fall asleep in your beaker.  Catarina will be here tonight; you can start over then.”

Alec smiled fondly.  At some point, they’d shifted from being coldly tolerant to genuinely friendly with each other, and, even with everything going on, it made him smile to see them happy and laughing.  “Lydia’s right, Iz.  Get some shut eye and look at it with a fresh head.”   
  
“See,” Lydia said smugly.  “Two against one.”  Izzy groaned.

“Where is Magnus?”  Alec asked, itching to get back to him.

“With Jace and Clary.”  

Alec nodded.  “Good. I want to make sure he isn’t left alone, at least until he’s back to normal.”  Between Jackson’s attack and his conversation with Victor, Alec felt uneasy every second he was away from Magnus.  He wondered if he should take Magnus back to the loft, but that would invoke Aldertree’s wrath possibly needlessly—Aldertree might force Alec’s hand and try to take Magnus altogether.  Besides, if Alec snuck off with Magnus, they’d be cut off from the resources and manpower of the Institute, which would mean finding Jackson and figuring out what had been in his potion would be nearly impossible. Alec wanted to make sure everything possible was devoted to helping Magnus.  

Besides, a selfish part of Alec wanted to have nothing to do with the loft without  _ his _ Magnus there with him. 

Leaving the girls, Alec wondered up the stairs to Jace’s room.  He paused outside the door, listening to the childish giggling coming from within.  Alec smiled.  Magnus had never been shy about laughing or smiling--it was one of the things Alec loved most about him--but the pure innocence in Magnus’s current laugh warmed Alec’s heart.  Even better was that he was laughing at all; he’d been so obviously scared this morning.  Not that Alec could blame him.  But in just the short time he’d been here, Magnus had come completely out of his shell.

He didn’t bother to knock, walking right into the room.  The three of them were on the floor, huddled over a pile of newspaper.  All of them were absolutely  _ covered  _ in bright streaks of red, blue, and green paint—Jace more so than anyone, much to Alec’s amusement.  Magnus grinned when he saw Alec in the door.  “Alec!” he shouted.  Alec was glad he was more comfortable, but he could do without all the yelling; he’d forgotten just how loud little kids were.  “You’re back!”

Magnus ran clumsily up to Alec, hands tucked behind his back.  Alec bent down on his knees. “Hey, buddy.  I missed you.”

“I missed you too!” Magnus said.  “Clary and Jace and me painted.”  

“I can see that,” he said wryly, taking in the mess of colors.  Jace and Clary both looked a little sheepish.

Magnus squirmed; it reminded Alec of Max when he’d been that age.  “I made you something!” he blurted.  “You looked sad when you left, and Clary said this would help.”

He pulled a paper from behind his back, holding it forward proudly.  Alec wasn’t entirely sure what it was meant to be—it was a mishmash of colors and shapes that only a child could produce—but judging by Magnus’s broad smile, he’d worked hard on it.  Alec wanted to cry.  Magnus was a child in a place he didn’t know, surrounded by strangers who didn’t speak his language and that he knew weren’t partial to warlocks.  And yet, even in this state, without fully understanding who Alec was, he was still trying taking care of Alec.  

“Thanks,  _ Jajil.”   _ He said Magnus’s given name carefully—it was tricky, with the rune wanting to translate everything he said into English, but he forced it out in the original Indonesian.  

The smile on Magnus’s face disappeared.  Alec frowned.  “Everything okay, buddy?”

Magnus shook his head.  “I missed you, s’all.”   
  
“Thanks. I missed you too.”   He held his hands out, and Magnus cautiously walked into them.  Alec hugged him gently, trying not to squeeze too tight, even though he wanted to do nothing but pull him close and never let go.

Clary and Jace were watching him, soft looks on both of their faces.  Alec wasn’t the only one who’d grown incredibly fond of this tiny version of Magnus, apparently. Alec rolled his eyes at them over Magnus’s shoulder, but he kept clutching Magnus to him all the same.  Magnus seemed to still be upset, his tiny body shaking slightly, so Alec pulled back.  “Hey, since you made me something so nice, it’s only right that I make you something too?”

Magnus’s eyes widened.  “Really?”

“Really.”  

Truth be told, Alec’s attempt at painting wasn’t much better than Magnus’s.  But it made Magnus smile, and that made it all worth it. 

~

They eventually broke from arts and crafts for lunch. Lydia and Izzy were nowhere to be seen in the busy cafeteria; Alec hoped they were both off resting instead of still bickering down in the lab.  Magnus looked at the plate of spaghetti Alec set in front of him skeptically.  “It looks like worms,” he said, frowning.

“Trust me, dude,” Jace said, shoveling a pile into his mouth, “it’s good.”

Magnus still looked dubious, but he carefully wound some on his fork.  Alec sighed internally.  Magnus had been clingy with Alec, pouting any time he was out of sight, but Jace apparently was the cool uncle—Magnus did everything he suggested without complaint.  Magnus chewed thoughtfully before shrugging.  “’S good,” he said, already going for another bite.  Even though Alec knew he and Max had eaten that much at that age—growing boys, and all—it still amazed him how much food Magnus could put away for how tiny he was.

After lunch, Alec drug a sleepy and cranky Magnus back to his room for a nap.  Magnus fell asleep quickly, and Alec watched him for a second before shifting back to the mission.  There was nothing he could do that Lydia and Izzy hadn’t already thought of—Alec knew that—but he was restless, and he wanted Magnus back to normal as soon as possible.  He missed him like a physical ache; he wanted to hear Magnus’s deep laugh and get his hand stuck in Magnus’s heavily gelled hair.  

Magnus slept for a good few hours before Alec finally woke him for dinner.  Magnus yawned, stretching his tiny body; with the cat eyes, he reminded Alec of a sleepy kitten.  Alec did miss his Magnus, incredibly so, but this tinier version had Alec’s heart completely wrapped around his pinky. 

Dinner was green beans and chicken; Alec was determined not to give Magnus scurvy for however long he would be here.  Afterward, he left Magnus with Clary watching mundane cartoons as he headed towards the main room to greet Catarina.  She’d been in an important meeting when Magnus had first been attacked—she’d worked to come as soon as possible, but it had taken her a bit to wrap things up before she could leave.  Seeing her in the hallway in the Institute, resplendent in an ivory dress that complemented her blue skin and her box braids piled high on her head, Alec felt not completely out of his depths for the first time since Jackson had sealed them in the holding room. When it came to spells and potions, no one was more knowledgeable than Magnus, but Catarina was a close second.

“Cat,” he said, overjoyed to see her.

“Alec,” she smiled, giving him a light hug and a quick peck on the cheek.  

“I’m so glad you’re here.  Izzy’s had some luck figuring out what was in the potion; she’s brilliant, of course, but some of it is out of her realm of expertise.”

“Well, I’m always happy to help where Magnus is concerned,” she said.  “Would you mind if I spoke to him?”  

“Of course.  How was Volgograd?” he asked, making small talk as they headed back to the rec room where he’d left Magnus and Clary.

“Freezing, as always.  Honestly, I don’t know how they live there for more than a few days at a time; human beings were not meant to exist in such cold.”

Alec chuckled, pausing out of the door.  “He, uh, he doesn’t speak English, right now.  We’ve been using a rune to get around it; I’m not sure if there’s a spell.  . . ?”

Cat rolled her eyes.  “Please.  Magnus trained me, remember?  He spoke to me only in Indonesian for like a month.  He said it would enhance my quick thinking skills to be able to pick up new languages rapidly, but looking back I think he was just fucking with me.”  

Alec nodded, smiling.  “That sounds like something he would do.”  When Magnus was back to himself, Alec promised to himself that he would throw himself into learning Indonesian fluently without the rune.

“Oh, he was a total asshole about it.”  Catarina laughed as she reached for the door.  “Here I was barely speaking English and suddenly he was speaking to me in a completely different language.  It wasn’t until after I’d mastered it that I learned he was fluent in Swahili the whole time.”

“Oh!” Alec said, stopping her.  “He, uh, he’s not going by Magnus.  We thought that would just confuse him, so we asked him his name.  It’s Jajil.”

Cat whipped around.  “What did you call him?”   
  
“What do you mean?  Jajil?  That’s his name.”

Cat stared.  “Alec, that can’t be his name.  That means  _ demon.” _

Alec’s eyes widened.  “But. . .he said. . .” Alec wanted to throw up.  How often had he called Magnus that in the last day?  And he’d told Magnus he could  _ trust _ Alec.  

She put an arm on his hand in an attempt to soothe him.  “Hey.  I think I know why he told you that.  Let me go talk to him, huh?”

Alec nodded, swallowing against the lump in his throat.  He led Catarina into the tv room with Clary and Magnus.

Magnus’s eyes widened when he saw Catarina, and he let out a small gasp.  She hadn’t glamored her skin, making it obvious that she too was a warlock. Alec supposed that no matter how nice they were to him, Magnus had to be relieved to see another warlock in the midst of all the shadowhunters.  Judging by the remarks Magnus had made about the Batavia Institute, he hadn’t been treated with much kindness by shadowhunters in the past.

Cat bent down, smiling broadly.  “Hello, there.  I’m Catarina.”  Her Indonesian sounded flawless, unlike the rune-forced robotic perfection the rest of them used. She offered her hand, and Magnus took it shyly, blushing.

“What’s your name?” she asked.  

Magnus looked up at Alec, and then back down at Catarina.  He hesitated.  

“Alec said you told them to call you Jajil.  But that’s not your name, is it?”   


Magnus looked down, shaking his head.

“Someone called you that, though, didn’t they.” It wasn’t a question.

Magnus looked down.  “It’s what. . .my dad my calls me. He learned it from the shadowhunters at the Batavia Institute.”

Alec felt like crying himself.

“I’ll you what,” Catarina said calmly.  “Warlocks pick their names, once we come into our powers fully.  Your older self chose the name Magnus, so he must have thought it was pretty good.  It means ‘great,’ and I know everyone here thinks you’re pretty great.  Would it be okay if we called you that instead?”

Magnus looked towards Alec nervously.

Alec forced down the tears threatening to spill over, and nodded at Magnus encouragingly.  Magnus’s eyes darted back towards Cat, unsure, but eventually, he gave a small nod.

Cat smiled.  “It’s very nice to meet you, Magnus.  Would you mind if I did a few spells on you?  They won’t hurt, I promise.”

This time, Magnus didn’t look to Alec before nodding.

Catarina’s magic spun out over Magnus.  The palest of pinks, it was simultaneously gentle and powerful, just like Catarina herself was.  Alec drifted at the familiar soothing sound of crackling magic; he’d barely gotten any sleep the night before, and with Clary and Cat in the room, he knew Magnus was safe.  He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he realized Cat was standing in front of him, a small smile quirking her lips.  “I have a better idea of what happened to him.  I’m going to talk to Izzy.  Alec, will you walk with me?”

Alec nodded, but before they could leave, Magnus bolted up.  He ran up to Catarina, grabbing the bottom of her dress before letting go just as suddenly, yanking his hand back.  He looked like he thought Cat would hit him.  

She must have sensed it too, because she just smiled at him.  “Yes, dear?”

“Can you—can you teach me magic?”  The words came out in a rush.  “I’ve never met another warlock before.”

For the first time, Catarina’s cool exterior slipped.  “Of course, if it’s okay.”  She looked up at Alec; as much as it must have pained her, she was only in the Institute with Alec’s permission; Alec could deny her access if he wished.  

“Of course!” he hastened to reassure them both.  “Maybe you could come in the mornings for an hour or two? Whatever works best for you.”

“That sounds good."  She looked back down at Magnus, stroking his head.  “I have to go now, unfortunately, but it was very nice to meet you, Magnus.  I’ll see you soon, okay?”

Magnus nodded, staring at her as they walked out.  They walked to Izzy’s lab in silence.  Alec wasn’t sure what to say; his head was spinning.  Magnus had never talked about this past much, but he’d always seemed comfortable in his identity as a warlock, even with some of the not so subtle barbs some of the other shadowhunters threw at him.  Seeing him so unsure was rattling Alec.

When they reached the door to Izzy’s lab, Cat turned to Alec.   “Even now, his magic is incredibly strong.  He’s already powerful, for such a little boy.”

“Do you think it’s maybe a spillover from the spell?  That his power didn't regress with him?”

She shook her head. “No. I think Magnus has just always been that powerful.”  She bit her lip, pausing.  “Take care of him, please.”

“I swear, Catarina,” Alec said earnestly. “I won’t let anything happen to him.”

“I know you won’t; I know how much you love him.  And even if he may not know you right now, it’s obvious he trusts you.  Just. . .Magnus had a lot of bad experiences with shadowhunters when he was little.  Be gentle, okay?”

“I promise,” he repeated.

“I know.  Now, let me go work with your much smarter sister on how to reverse this thing, huh?”

~

While Cat and Izzy worked, Alec headed back up to Magnus and Clary.  They were giggling at some cartoon; as much as Clary usually annoyed him, Alec had to admit he was thankful for Clary’s thorough mundane knowledge.   He collapsed on the couch beside them, and Magnus, without saying anything, crawled into his lap.  Alec slung an arm around him, the movement familiar from when Max had been little, and they were both drifting off to sleep when Clary bit her lip, sliding off the couch.  “I, uh, I’ll be right back.”

Alec raised an eyebrow as she hurried out of the room.  She didn’t seem concerned, but she was acting strangely enough that Alec was suddenly wide awake and watching the door.

When he saw what Clary had been nervous about, he almost wished it was a demon instead.

Simon walked through the door, eyes going wide as he spotted Magnus.  “Oh my god _ ddd,”  _ he breathed, drawing his d out like a teenage girl.  “Raphael,  _ look at him.” _

Raphael appeared from behind Simon.  “He’s very cute,” Raphael agreed, with all the excitement Raphael’s dry voice usually carried.

“Clary,” Alec sighed.  If he whined a little bit, Alec would never admit it.

“I’m sorry!”  she said.  “I had to tell Simon—“

“—no, you  _ really _ didn’t—“

“And once he knew he had to come see him.”

By now, all the commotion had woken Magnus up.  He sat up, blinking slowly.  Simon cooed.  Magnus turned and looked at Alec questioningly.

“Magnus,” he sighed, “as much as I hate to admit it, this dumbas— _ dumb  _ is your friend when you grow up.”

“Whoa,” Simon blinked, “you speak Indonesian?  That’s some true love shit.”

“It’s a rune, Simon.” Clary clarified.

Magnus slid off Alec’s lap, walking up to Simon very cautiously.  “Hi, I’m Simon,” he said, sticking out a hand.  Magnus looked confused, but stuck his hand out as well; Simon grabbed it and shook it up and down.  “Oh my god, I have to get a picture, hang on,” he muttered.  “Does he like Two Dots?”  He looked down at Magnus.  “Do you like Two Dots?”

Raphael settled down on the couch beside Alec.  “I talked to Catarina earlier,” he said casually.  “She said she told you to be careful with him, but I don’t think she quite got the point across.”  Raphael slid closer.  “If you let anyone hurt a single hair on his head, I will turn you just to tie you down during sunrise.”

Simon sighed from where he was showing Magnus his phone.  “Raphael, dude. We _ talked _ about this.  We said we weren’t going to threaten them!”

Raphael smiled, slapping Alec on the thigh.  “Great to see you as always, Alec.”  

“Wow, he’s actually pretty good at this,” Simon said as Magnus dragged his finger around Simon’s phone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to menckenschrestomethy as always for an awesome beta job! Also if you need more "Magnus is amazing" in your life, check out their new fic [**Who Ya Gonna Call?**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9826160)

Lydia paused outside the open door of Alec’s office, watching him carefully.  He was folded up on the floor, long legs tucked neatly underneath him, playing some sort of hand game with Magnus. They were so absorbed in whatever they were doing, they seemingly hadn’t heard her approach.  Even though she had no choice, Lydia felt bad about interrupting.  “Alec,” she finally called.  

He and Magnus both looked up.  “Victor asked me to find you.  He wants to talk to you.”

Alec frowned.  “He say what he wants?”

“No.  But he seems in a mood,” she said. That was an understatement.  Victor was normally like a cat: sleek, charming and would strike when you would least expect it.  When she’d gone to his office for a routine meeting earlier, he’d been pacing the room, practically tearing at his hair.  She figured he must be getting pressure from Idris; she’d kept her word and downplayed the calls she’d placed to other Institutes to get information on Jackson.  Like Alec, she was growing increasingly distrustful of Victor; she was beginning to suspect that there was more to him than his rigid adherence to the Clave’s orders.  “Be careful,” she cautioned.  

“Okay,” Alec nodded.  He frowned.  “Can you, uh.  Do you mind watching Magnus for a minute?”

She stared down at the child before looking back to Alec.  “Uh,” she paused.  “Sure?”

Alec nodded and patted him on the head.  “Be right back, Magnus.”

Lydia passed her stele over the translation rune tucked on her shoulder before walking cautiously into the room.  She wasn’t scared of Magnus because he was a warlock—she considered his grown self somewhat of a friend, and definitely an ally—it was more the _child_ ness of it all.  Lydia had never been good with kids.  She’d been an only child, and her engagement had ended before they could even talk about children.  She supposed that if she’d married Alec, they would have forced themselves to have awkward sex once or twice to carry on the Lightwood name—it was easy to see that Alec adored kids.  It wasn’t that Lydia _didn’t_ like them, per se; she was just always unsure how to act around them.  Children made her uncomfortable in a way that fighting demons never had.  

“Uh, hi,” she said, uncertain.  Magnus stared at her.  “Having a good day?” she tried again.

Magnus narrowed his eyes.  “You’re a grown up, right?”

“Last time I checked,” she joked.  Magnus continued staring.  “Yeah, why?”  
  
He looked back at the books lining Alec’s office.  “So you can read?”

She nodded. Magnus looked at her expectantly.  “Do you. . .want me to read to you?” she tried.

Magnus broke out into a wide smile. Lydia had to admit, it was cute. Knowing that Magnus was curious about the books made her feel a little warmer towards him; she remembered being insatiably curious too at that age.  She wasn’t sure if Magnus was old enough to have started to learn how to read, but even if he did, it certainly wouldn’t be in English, which is what the majority of the books in the office were written in.

“Why don’t you pick one and I’ll read it to you?”

Resolutely, Magnus pulled a book at random and handed it to her.  Lydia grimaced as she read the title: _The Efficiency of Garrotes When Battling Golems._ Magnus wasn’t exactly unsheltered, even for a child so young, but Alec might actually kill her if she taught Magnus the finer points of killing rock monsters.

Lydia paused.

“Uh, that one’s pretty boring,” she demurred.  Magnus’s face sunk in disappointment, and Lydia almost reconsidered her stance on teaching five-year-olds effective murder techniques to get the frown to go away.  Instead, she said, “why don’t you ask me whatever questions you have, and we can go from there?”

Magnus nodded.  “Where does magic come from?  Why is my magic different than yours?”  

Great.  Now she had to give him the birds and the bees talk.  She’d honestly rather tell him about the garrotes.

“Well,” she hedged.  “There are special properties in our blood that give us our abilities.  Different types of blood produce different talents.”  She just prayed he didn’t ask where that blood came from.  She didn’t want to tell him his mom had likely been raped by a demon.  

Magnus nodded.  “So why do you need steles to activate your magic but warlocks don’t?”  

Lydia gave an internal sigh of relief.  “You know what?  Why don’t I find you some of the textbooks they use for junior shadowhunters.  I’m sure we can figure out something to read them aloud to you, or you and I can sit and read them together.”  

Magnus stared at her.  “You’d do that?”  

“Yeah, sure.”  Lydia grinned.  “I mean, I’ll tell you whatever I know, but I may not be able to answer your questions as well as the books can.  I remember how frustrating it is when adults don't have the answers.”

Magnus nodded.  “Yeah, it is.  Sorry.”

“None taken.”

“So what about werewolves?” he asked.

Magnus as a child was more likable than most children.  He was genuinely curious, and it was clear he was soaking up everything Lydia told him like a flower in the sun.  When she heard someone clear their throat and turned around to see Izzy leaning against the doorway, she had to admit she’d lost track of time a bit.

“Luke’s here,” Izzy said.  “He wants to talk to us.  And Cat’s here to give Magnus his lesson.”  She turned to Magnus, switching to Indonesian.  “C’mon, ducky.  It’s time for you to go with Cat.”

Magnus yelled, jumping up as he tore out the door.  True to her word, Catarina had been coming every morning to teach Magnus magic.  Lydia didn’t know the finer points of his lessons, but she’d made enough chit chat with Cat as they tried to reverse Jackson’s potion that Lydia knew he was exceeding expectations.

Izzy smiled as they took off at a more leisurely pace.  “You’re good with him.”

Lydia laughed.  “Yeah, if your standard is Valentine, maybe.  Hey,” she said, taking Izzy’s arm and turning to face her. Though Izzy looked beautiful as always, there were dark circles under her eyes, and she looked like she was about to fall asleep where she stood.  “You okay?”

Izzy blinked.  “Yeah.  Why wouldn’t I be?”

Lydia bit her lip.  Maybe this wasn’t her place, but everyone was so caught up in helping Magnus that no one seemed to notice Izzy was driving herself into the ground. “I mean, I know everyone is worried about Alec and Magnus, but Magnus was your friend too.  And I can tell you haven’t slept much since this whole thing started.”

“This again?  Besides, you’re one to talk.”  Izzy rolled her eyes and walked forward.  Lydia stopped her again.

“Just take care of yourself, okay?  Don’t sacrifice yourself to spare Alec from pain.”

“He’s my brother,” she said quietly.  “He’d do the same for me.”

“Well, you and Jace and Alec don’t have to do everything by yourself anymore, okay?”

Izzy smiled at her, and Lydia’s heart skipped a beat.  

They didn’t say anything else as they walked into the room where Jace, Clary, Cat and Luke  were.  Alec was noticeably absent; he must have still been with Aldertree.  They were speaking in English with a bored looking Magnus sitting by Jace’s feet; whatever Luke had summoned them urgently to talk about was clearly serious enough for them to want Magnus to have nothing to do with it.  

Luke looked as worn down as the rest of them. "We have a lead on Jackson.”

“Yeah?” Jace asked.

“We cornered him in Queens.  He killed one of my pack members.”

Clary let out a sound of distress.  “Luke, I’m so sorry.”                                 

Luke scrubbed a hand over his face.   “He got away when we were distracted.  Whatever he used on Magnus, he used on Stephen too; it took him right back to when he was first turned.  Only Stephen was turned to save his life—he’d been gutshot on a hunting trip.  That came back too.  There was nothing we could do.”

“Luke. . .” Izzy trailed off.

Luke shook his head, continuing. “There’s more.  Jackson wasn’t alone.  He had someone with him.  Tall, a blond guy. We didn’t get a great look at him before he disappeared.”

“So whatever Jackson’s up to, he’s not alone,” Lydia said.

“And he’s getting stronger.” Jace finished.

“Well if _that_ isn’t ominous,” Izzy sighed.  “On the bright side, Cat and I think we’re a little closer to an antidote.”  

Cat nodded.  “Izzy and I think we have a rough idea of what needs to go in it, but it will take a few more days to fine tune.”

“Well, that’s good, at least.” Jace said.  He looked down at Magnus, who had started to squirm.  “Okay, Cat, I think it’s time to get this one to his lesson before he goes stir crazy.”

Cat nodded, following Jace to the room where they’d been giving Magnus lessons. “Wait,” Lydia said, surprising herself.  “One more thing.” Lydia said. “Um,” she hesitated.  “Are there any books written for warlock children?  That you use to train them with?”

Cat smiled gently.  “There are a few, yes.  Magnus even has a few in his library, I think.  I need to go to his loft to look for some potion ingredients I don’t have; I’ll see if I can’t find any.”

~

All things considered, Alec’s morning hadn’t started off badly for how terrible his day had become.

He’d gotten to watch Magnus try French toast that morning, and Alec unashamedly videotaped Magnus’s beaming face on the sly.  Magnus had introduced Alec to so many new things over the course of their relationship; it did him good to be able to return the family and see Magnus laughing delightedly at something as benign as French toast.  After breakfast, they’d retired to Alec’s office to wait for Cat—Alec had intended to get some work done, but he’d ended up on the floor teaching Magnus Patty Cake instead.  It wasn’t until Alec was marching towards Victor’s office that the unease he’d been feeling the last few days returned in full force.

“Aldertree,” Alec tilted his head as he entered Victor’s office.

“Alec,” Aldertree said warmly.  He didn’t seem to be in the foul mood that Lydia had claimed, but Alec kept his guard up regardless.  Appearances could be deceiving.  “Please, come in.”

Alec shut the door behind him and took a seat.

“Lydia tells me that you haven’t had much luck in tracking Jackson or reversing the potion,” Victor said, steepling his fingers on his desk.  “That’s unfortunate.”

“We’re doing all we can,” Alec tried to reassure him.  He sent a silent prayer of thanks that Lydia had kept her word and left Victor in the dark.  “Trust me, I want to find him more than anyone.”

“Well, I need you to step up your game, as it were.  The Clave has taken a special interest in this case.  If you can’t find him, they’ll have no choice but to remove the warlock to Idris for his own safety.”

Alec took a second to process what Aldertree had just said.  “You want to use him as _bait,”_ he sputtered.  “You’d force a downworlder child into Idris just to capture a rogue Shadowhunter?  They’d lock Magnus up and never let him see the sun.”

Victor shrugged.

“We’ll run if you do,” Alec swore.  If Jocelyn Fairchild could manage to live as a mundane for eighteen years, Alec certainly could.

“I would think that through very carefully, Alec.” Victor looked almost like he was smiling.  “Such an act could be seen as insubordination in the eyes of the Clave, and would merit quite a punishment when you were found.”  

Alec narrowed his eyes.  “You think I care what you do to me if it means keeping him safe?”

Victor was still smiling, twirling a golden pen from his desk.  “No, I’m not that stupid.  But it wouldn’t be just you, would it?  Your sister, your parabatai, all of your downworlder friends.”  He practically spits the word _downworlder_.  “They’d help you.  And the Accords won’t protect those that are knowingly breaking the law.”

Alec shoved his chair back, storming towards the door.  

“Remember whose side you’re on, Alec.” Victor called as he slammed the door.

~

Outside, Alec seethed, stalking down the hallway.  When he got to a part of the Institute that was a little more isolated, he screamed, driving his fist into the wall until his knuckles bled.

Alec wouldn’t put his siblings in danger, but he wouldn’t let the Clave cart Magnus off to Idris and treat him like a bug under a magnifying glass.  Alec wasn’t stupid; if they got ahold of Magnus, they’d use him to figure out exactly what Jackson had done, and they wouldn’t care what happened to Magnus in the process. He swallowed a sob; if Magnus had been in his position, he would have known what to do. He wouldn’t be so _useless._

Alec had been backed into a corner, and there was nothing to do but keep trying to fight his way out.

~

When Alec had calmed down a little, he headed towards the practice room where he knew Catarina would be teaching Magnus.  Normally he left them alone—he was in the way more than anything—but right now, he just wanted to see Magnus, hale and whole, with his own two eyes.

When he entered, he could hear Cat whispering to Magnus quietly.  She seemed like her normal placid self, but when she looked up at Alec, he could see a furrow between her eyebrows.  Magnus turned to look at him, but instead of running up to Alec in excitement like he normally did, he merely turned back to stare at the wall. “Hey guys,” he greeted cautiously.  “How’s it going?”

“Progress ebbs and flows,” Catarina said cryptically.  

“I’m stupid,” Magnus said petulantly.  

Alec frowned.  “No, you’re not, buddy.  Why would you say that?”

Catarina opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Magnus said, “I _am._ Yesterday I could summon a cookie _fine,_ and today I can’t summon anything at all.”

Catarina looked briefly embarrassed that Magnus let it slip that she’d been slipping him sweets, but she said calmly, “It’s normal, Magnus, I promise.  You’ll have it mastered in no time.”

Magnus grunted, kicking his foot.  “He’s always been a perfectionist, apparently,” Cat said to Alec in English.

“Hmm,” Alec said.  He shouldn’t be surprised that a toddler was having a tantrum, but up until this point, Magnus had been so sweet that the change of pace was jarring.

“Did you talk to Luke?” she asked, still in English.

“No.  I didn’t even know he was here.  Did he get a lead on Jackson?” Alec tried not to let himself be too hopeful, but maybe they could nip Victor’s threat in the bud before it became a real problem.

Cat grimaced.  “Yes, but he had an accomplice.  Luke’s pack cornered them, and they killed one of the wolves.  They got away.”

“ _Fuck,”_ Alec swore.

Magnus’s head shot up.  “Bad word!  Bad word!”  

Alec sighed, pinching his nose.  “You had to pick now to pick up English, didn’t you buddy?”  He had a feeling Jace was behind that particular bit of knowledge.

Alec soon understood what Catarina had meant.  Magnus didn’t currently have the effortless control his older self did, but he could usually do the simple tasks Catarina gave him fairly easily.  Today, however, his magic was sparking uncontrollably in every direction.  When he nearly set a ball on fire instead of turning it pink, she put on a broad smile.  “I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave our lesson early today—I have to run to meet a Seelie ambassador.”

Judging by the scowl on his face, Magnus knew that was a lie as much as Alec did.

Magnus’s bad mood persisted throughout the day.  He picked at his dinner and was sullen all through a movie in the rec room after words.  When Alec finally decided to call it quits, Magnus pouted, dragging his feet all the way back to Alec’s room.  After Alec told him to get ready for bed, Magnus summoned a look on his face that, when it was on adult Magnus, meant _Alexander, I know you’re young, but you’re not stupid._

“Magnus, come on.”  Alec sighed impatiently.  Alec knew he wasn’t in the best mood himself.  His meeting with Victor and the death from Luke’s pack earlier weighed heavily on his mind.  He hadn’t said anything to the others yet.  There hadn’t been time, and Alec wanted to keep to it to himself for a bit, anyway, until he could figure out something to do about Victor’s threat.  

Magnus stomped his foot, and Alec sighed again.  They were going to have to do this the hard way, apparently.  

“No!” Magnus screamed as Alec picked him up.  He struck out with his chubby fist, pounding at Alec’s chest.  Blue sparks flew out, and Alec fell to the ground, more from shock than anything.  Magnus slipped out of his grasp, tumbling to the floor.

“Shit,” Alec swore, palming the burn on his chest.  It wasn’t a serious injury, but it still stung pretty badly, blistering a little already.  He looked up to make sure Magnus was okay; Magnus stared at him with wide eyes, bottom lip trembling.

“Magnus,” he said, sitting up slowly.  Before he could say anything else, Magnus gave a choking sob and took off, sprinting the open door.

Shadowhunter reflexes or not, Alec was so startled that it took him a second to realize Magnus was no longer in front of him.  He stumbled to his feet and out into the long, empty hallway.

Magnus was nowhere to be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments mean the world to me!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you as always to menckenschrestomethy for looking this over and holding my hand!

“Relax,” Izzy soothed.  “Magnus has to be somewhere still in the Institute.”

Alec buried his head further into his hands.  He had roamed the halls in increasing desperation before he realized wherever Magnus was, Alec wasn’t going to be able to find Magnus by himself.  He’d sent a desperate text to Izzy and Jace; Izzy had appeared not long after, a chocolate-smeared shirt Magnus had been wearing earlier clutched in her hand.  Jace was making his way back as quickly as possible from a double date with Clary and Simon and Maia at Hunter’s Moon, leaving Alec to pace impatiently, shirt twisted in his clenched fists.  His burned chest stung unpleasantly as he walked, but it was the last thing on Alec’s mind.  

“He could have portaled,” Alec argued.  He blanched.  “Oh, god, he could be anywhere—”

“Alec,” Izzy said.  She grabbed him by the shoulders, stopping him in his tracks.  “We’ll find him.  He’s six; he doesn’t even know what a portal  _ is. _ ”

“Cat said he was powerful. If he was scared enough—”

He was interrupted by the sound of sirens, and the hallway was bathed in sickly flashing red light. That could only mean one thing: the Institute was going on lockdown.  

“For fuck’s sake,” Izzy swore.  Shadowhunters ran by quickly, heading towards the main hall.  

A figure was heading towards them, moving against the current of Shadowhunters, and Alec sent a small prayer that it was Jace.  Instead, Victor emerged, looking furious as he came to a halt in front of Alec and Izzy.  

“I asked  _ one  _ thing of you,” he said, voice quivering with anger.  His normally calm exterior had vanished.  “Keep an eye on the warlock.  And you couldn’t even do that.”

“How did you even find out he was missing?” Izzy asked, settling a hand on Alec’s chest and pushing him back before he could do something he would regret.

“He and Raj got into an altercation.”

Izzy’s eyes widened.  “Did Raj hurt him?”

“Not as he much as he hurt Raj.  Find him,” Victor thundered, pivoting to head back down the hallway.  “Or I will.”

“I’m here,” Jace said, nearly crashing into Victor as he left.  He was panting, and Clary was directly behind him.  “That his?” he asked, nodding to the shirt in Alec’s hand.  He didn’t wait for an answer, already wrapping his fist with Alec’s.

Alec nodded anyway, squeezing Jace’s hand tighter so his fingers would stop trembling.  He closed his eyes, pouring everything he had into focusing on  _ Magnus, where is Magnus. _

The closer you were to the person you were tracking, the better idea of their location you got.  Sometimes he and Jace could only get a general impression of a neighborhood or even a city.  Once, when they’d been chasing a quick-footed demon, they’d only been able to narrow it down to the entire hell hole of New Jersey.

As the darkness resolved itself into a clearer image of where exactly Magnus was, Alec swallowed, heart sinking.  Izzy had been right: he hadn’t left the Institute at all.

Alec slipped out of his room, desperate to get to Magnus as quickly as possible.  The others thundered at his heels.  Shadowhunters were already pacing the Institute, looking for Magnus, but Alec had a head start that they didn’t.  He passed through them quickly, heading deep down into the dark basement.  Before Alec knew it, he was standing in front of the heavy, reinforced door.  It was barely cracked open—just enough for a child to slip through.  Alec sighed. When he had Magnus back, Alec swore to himself that he would never go into this part of the Institute again.  Too many terrible things had happened here.

“Wait,” Izzy said as they approached the door.  “Alec, heal yourself and change your shirt.”

“There’s no time—“

“Magnus ran off because he thought he hurt you,” she argued.  “If he sees your chest covered in road rash, that isn’t going to make him feel better.”

Alec ran a hand through his hair.  Izzy was right, he knew, but everything in him was screaming to get to Magnus as quickly as possible.

“Here,” Jace said, sensing his dilemma.  He pulled his shirt over his head, offering it to Alec.  Alec pulled his stele out and activated his healing rune before taking the shirt gratefully, tugging it on.  The soreness in his chest eased.  The shirt felt a little silly on him; it was too tight, and the sleeves stopped somewhere in the middle of his forearms.  Alec could only imagine how he looked, but at the moment, he really didn’t care.  

He could hear Magnus sniffling as he entered the room.  

Magnus was back in the corner, curled into himself much as he had been when they’d first discovered him.  Alec approached softly, crouching to his knees so that he didn’t tower over the small child.  “Hey, Magnus,” he said softly.

Magnus looked up.  His eyes were red and bloodshot.  “Are you going to send me away?”

“No,” Alec soothed.  Even now, Magnus hadn’t talked much about his family, but from what little he’d said, Alec was no longer surprised by Magnus’s intense fear of abandonment.  He knew logically that Magnus’s father was long dead, but Alec wished he could time travel just to go back and punch him in the face. “I would never do that.”

“But I hurt you,” Magnus protested.  

“I’m fine. See?” Alec reassured, tugging at the collar of Jace’s sweater to show his healed chest.  “And I know it was an accident.”

At that, Magnus burst into tears.  Alec’s hands hovered over him; he hesitated briefly before wrapping his arms around Magnus and scooping him towards his chest.

“Hey, hey,” Alec soothed.  “It’s okay.  You’re okay.”  Magnus muttered something indistinguishable into his chest.

“What was that?” Alec asked, pulling away slightly.  

“Why aren’t you mad?” Magnus asked, crying harder.  “Why are you so nice to me? I’m a  _ warlock. _ ”

Alec’s heart shattered into about a thousand pieces.  “Because you’re very kind and smart and funny.  You’re a good person, Magnus.  It doesn’t matter that you’re a warlock, okay?  That just makes you more special.  If anybody says different, they’re dumb.”

Magnus sobbed into chest as Alec rocked him gently back and forth, soothing him.  Eventually, Magnus’s sobs turned to whimpers as he settled, exhausted.  Alec stood slowly, ready to take him to bed.  He frowned as his face brushed Magnus’s chin.  “You feel warm, buddy.”

“I feel bad,” Magnus admitted.  

“Huh, no wonder you were grumpy.”  He tried not to let the concern he felt transfer into his voice.

The others had disappeared when he left the holding room, Magnus wrapped in his arms; Alec knew that he had them to thank as he walked back to his room without being bothered by anyone.  The alarms and flashing lights had gone silent.  By the time he had Magnus back in Alec’s room and tucked in bed, Magnus was pretty much asleep, head lolling.  Alec frowned as he pressed the back of his hand to Magnus’s forehead, feeling the heat radiating off of it.

He texted Jace and Izzy to meet him outside of his room.  While he waited for them to arrive, he watched Magnus toss and turn in the bed restlessly.  When a gentle knock sounded at his door, he slipped outside to meet his siblings.

“Everything okay?” Izzy asked.  

Alec sighed.  “He was upset, but I think we’re past it.  How is Raj?”

Jace rolled his eyes.  “He tried to grab Magnus when he was running, and Magnus kicked him in the face.  He’s got a black eye, but he’ll live unless the healer kills him from whining too much.”

Alec laughed but then sobered.  “Magnus does have a fever I’m kind of worried about.  He felt like he was burning up.”

“You want us to call Cat?” Izzy asked.

“You don’t think I’m being overdramatic?” Alec asked.  “Max picked up a cold every other day at that age.”

Jace shrugged.  “Probably, honestly.  But better be safe than sorry.”

It wasn’t long before Cat was back in the Institute.  She wasn’t her normal coiffed self—she looked like she’d gotten dressed in a hurry—and Alec realized a little guiltily how late it was.  But that guilt was swallowed by fear as she stood over Magnus, frowning as her magic enveloped him.

She pulled back her hands and gestured them out of the room so that they could talk without disturbing Magnus.  “His magic is behaving strangely,” she said, short and to the point.  “It’s almost like his body is fighting it.”

“You think it could be a latent effect of the spell?”  Jace asked, looking between Izzy and Cat.

“Probably,” Cat said.  “There’s not much I can do for it; the best thing to do is keep an eye on him and try to reverse the spell as soon as possible.”

“We can’t let him out of our sight,” Alec stressed.

“Alec. . .” Izzy trailed off.  “Did something happen, earlier?  Besides Magnus, I mean.  You seemed upset.”

He bit his lip.  He told himself he’d do whatever it took to protect his siblings, but Alec was horrible at keeping secrets from them.  Besides, he genuinely didn’t know what to do anymore.  “Victor told me the Clave wants to take him to Idris if we can’t find Jackson and fix whatever this is.”

Jace blinked.  “Why would they send him to Idris?”

Cat laughed bitterly.  “You think the Clave wouldn’t want one of the most powerful warlocks of all time as a child under their thumb?”

Alec shook his head.  “I think. . .There’s that, but I think they’re also a little too interested in what Jackson did to him.   They want Jackson back, and badly.  I don’t think it’s just about preventing another Circle, either.”

“Fuck,” Izzy swore. “They think if they have Magnus and Jackson, they can perfect the spell Jackson was using.  And if they’re after Magnus, then Jackson will be too.  They’re trying to lure him to Idris.”

Alec nodded.  “You can’t tell Victor that you almost have a cure,” he pleaded to Izzy.  “It’s more important now more than ever.”

Cat nodded.  “Do we still think we can trust Lydia?”  she asked.  “Izzy and I haven’t been making a secret of what we’ve found to her.”

Izzy shook her head.  “You can trust her.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I just. . .know.  You have my word for it.”

“Alec,” Jace said, putting his hand on Alec’s knee.  “You know we won’t let them hurt Magnus.  If we can’t figure out the cure before the Clave makes a move, we’ll hide Magnus until we can figure it out.”

Alec shook his head.  “It’s more complicated than that.  I pretty much told Victor the same thing.  He won’t stop at just looking for me and Magnus.  He’ll come after all of you.  I can’t ask you to do that.”

Jace shook his head.  “So we’ll get Clary and Lydia, and we’ll run together.  We’ll fix Magnus.”

“It’s too dangerous. Unless. . .” Alec bit his lip, reluctant to say what had been on his mind all day aloud.  “The only way I can see it working is if Victor thinks Magnus and I are dead.  We could do it.  But we’d have to totally cut contact.”

Izzy blinked.  “Alec, think about how crazy what you’re saying is.  You’d be cut off from all of us.  We’d never see you again. You’d have to severe your Parabatai bond.”  Jace sucked in a breath. “And Magnus would never return to normal.”

“Would that be so bad?” Alec said.  He’d been fixated on the idea all day.   He missed Magnus,  _ his  _ Magnus, like a physical ache.  But this Magnus was so sweet and innocent.  This Magnus had a chance to grow up happy.  Was it selfish of Alec to deny Magnus that? “Magnus deserves to grow up free and happy and loved.”

Izzy shook her head.  “ _ Alec,”  _ she repeated, begging.

Cat held up a hand, cutting them off.  “Let’s get back to work.  Izzy and I are close to figuring out how to reverse the potion; if we can figure it out, this whole discussion is useless.”

~

The next morning, Alec awoke slowly, thinking about the conversation they’d had last night.  He didn’t want to have to run.  He couldn’t even think about never seeing Jace or Izzy or Max or Lydia again. 

But Alec would also do whatever it took to make sure Magnus was safe and happy.

When Magnus awoke, Alec swallowed down the bitterness in his throat, putting on a smile.  Whatever had been plaguing Magnus the night before seemed to have ended.  He bounced around the room, dressing quickly and harassing Alec to hurry for breakfast.  Cat stopped by not long after they were done eating, still in her clothes from the night before; she and Izzy had been up all night, apparently.  She waved her hands over Magnus, who giggled as her magic washed over him.  “It tickles!”

She smiled, meeting Alec’s eyes cautiously.  “Well, it seems like you’re a perfectly healthy little boy this morning.”

There was a tension amongst the adults, but they did their best to act normal for Magnus.  Victor’s presence loomed like a shadow; even though he was seemingly absent from the Institute that morning, they all kept Magnus close. At lunch, Alec stepped away to the bathroom for a minute.  When he came back, Jace was looking guilty, and Magnus was diving face-first into a bowl of chocolate ice cream.  Alec sighed.  “You know the dairy is going to make him sick, right?”

Jace shrugged.  “C’mon, he’d never had ice cream!  That’s a travesty.”  

“Easy for you to say.  You’ve never been around him when he gets gassy.”

Jace snorted, and, despite his annoyance, Alec couldn’t be too mad.  Magnus was grinning wildly, the smile on his face so bright it almost hurt to look at.  

Sure enough, Magnus turned green when they were hanging out in Alec’s office a few hours later.

“Ughhhh,” Magnus groaned, rolling over from where he was playing on the floor.

“I’m sorry, buddy,” Alec said.  “Maybe we should have taken it easy on the ice cream.”

“Nah, it was worth it.”  Magnus grinned before continuing,  “Alec, when I grow up, how old will I be?”   
  
The question caught Alec off guard.  “Uh, well, I think you’re around your 400s, now.”

“No, I mean; Miss Catarina is a grown up.” Catarina was the only person who Magnus didn’t call by their first name, and it amused Alec to no end.  Apparently, Magnus took her role as a teacher seriously.  “Do I stop growing when I’m a grown-up, or will I get all old and wrinkly?”

“Oh!”  Alec said.  “You mean how old are you when you stop aging.  Um, I think you’re two or three years older than I am.  29, 30, maybe?”

Magnus frowned.  “So I do get old.”

“Hey!”  Alec laughed despite himself.  “That’s not old.  Do you think I’m old?”

Magnus rolled his eyes.  “Uh,  _ yeah.” _

~

Ostensively, Clary had forced Izzy into her room because Clary wanted to try a new makeup look, but Clary wasn’t an idiot; she’d seen how hard Izzy was working herself.  Clary wanted Magnus safe and back to normal as much as anyone, but at the rate she was going, all Izzy was going to accomplish was putting herself in the infirmary.  Clary had also told Alec they’d watch Magnus for a bit—Alec needed a break too, and Clary hoped that with Magnus present, Izzy wouldn’t be chomping at the bit quite as eagerly to run back to her lab.  

Alec dropped Magnus off a bit earlier than planned, mentioning something about meeting with Lydia.  Izzy was just finishing up Clary’s eyeshadow, dabbing her brush into an emerald-colored powder.  “Hold on just a minute, ducky,” Izzy said, not losing her focus on Clary. “We’re almost done.”

When she finished, Izzy smiled, noticing Magnus watching her curiously.  “Would you like me to do your makeup?  We used to do it together when you were a grown up.”

Magnus hesitated.  “It’s for girls, isn’t it?  I’ve only seen you and Lydia wear it; Jace and Alec never do.”

“Of course not!” Izzy protested.  “In fact. . .” she trailed off, sticking her head out the door.  “Jace!” she screamed.

Clary laughed.  “What if he’s not in earshot?”

“Trust me; he heard that.”

Sure enough, Jace appeared in the doorway a few minutes later, seemingly unhurried.  “You rang, sister dear?  Oh, hey, dude,” he said, nodding towards Magnus.  

“We’re having a makeup party.  Let Clary do yours while I work on Magnus’s.”  

Clary could see the look that passed between them; years of training together had left them to communicate without saying a word.  Jace eventually nodded and smiled as he settled in front of Clary.  “Don’t forget, I’m an autumn.”

Clary rolled her eyes, but she got to work.  She had to admit, it was soothing.  Jace was a good model; he was perfectly still and didn’t offer commentary on the products she chose like Izzy tended to do.  Clary relaxed to the sounds of Izzy’s mindless explanations of what she was doing to Magnus.  As she rubbed highlighter onto Jace’s cheeks and lipstick onto his plush red lips, Clary’s cheeks heated.  Doing her boyfriend’s makeup felt intimate in a way that doing Izzy’s didn’t, and she couldn’t help but stare into Jace’s eyes, enhanced by the copper eyeliner he was now wearing.  “Beautiful,” she said softly when she was done.

“Not as beautiful as you are,” Jace said just as quietly, smiling back.  Clary wanted nothing more than to lean in and bite the lipstick she’d just carefully applied off. It was only Izzy clearing her throat that reminded Clary a small child was in the room. “Boyfriends and girlfriends,” Izzy said loudly.  “Yuck.”

Magnus giggled.  Izzy had put on liner and shadow similar what Magnus normally wore, but it looked more adorable than anything on his childish face.  “Do you have a boyfriend, Izzy?”

She shook her head.  “Or a girlfriend.  I’m tragically single, I’m afraid,”  Izzy pouted. 

“Girlfriend?”  Magnus frowned. “But you’re a girl too.”

“Sometimes girls like other girls.  Alec only likes other boys.”

Magnus blinked, clearly digesting this information.  “Does Alec have a boyfriend?”

One could hear a pin drop, the room was so silent.  After an awkward pause, Jace cleared his throat.  “He does.  And he loves him very much.”

Magnus frowned.  “So if he’s so great, how come he’s not around?”  

Jace winced.  “Uh. . .”

“He’s away right now.  On a mission.  But he doesn’t want to be, and I know he really misses Alec,” Izzy said quickly.  

“Hmm,” Magnus said disbelievingly.  It was cute to see how enamored of Alec he’d become in just a few short days; clearly, all versions of Magnus Bane were big fans of Alec Lightwood.  “If he loves Alec, he should come home.”

Jace laughed, despite himself.  “You know, buddy, I don’t think Alec’s boyfriend would disagree with that.”

~

Alec stared as Lydia put a silence rune on the door of her office.  “There’s something you should know,” she said quietly.  “I’ve been looking into Jackson since we didn’t know much about him before he came here from the Columbus Institute.”

“Yeah.  And?”

Lydia looked around before whispering to Alec.  “He came along with another shadowhunter named Connor.  And no one has seen Connor in a few weeks.”

“You think he was the person with Jackson that attacked Luke’s pack?”

“Maybe.  But get this.  Connor was working really closely with Victor before he disappeared.”

Alec’s eyes widened.  “And Victor hasn’t said anything about his sudden disappearance.”

Lydia nodded.

“You think Victor was working with Jackson and Connor?” Alec asked. 

She shrugged.  “I don’t know.  It might make sense—he was so angry about the Clave potentially taking Magnus. Having Magnus at the Institute would make it easier to keep tabs on him while they’re planning their next step.  We have to be really careful here, Alec.  It might not be just the Clave that’s after Magnus.  If Victor’s working with Jackson and Connor, there’s no telling what they’re planning.  They might be planning to ramp up whatever they did to Magnus to the entire downworld.”

“I know.  Thank you, Lydia.”

She sighed.  “You know, I really miss the days when Valentine was our only problem.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of your lovely comments! My life is crazy busy right now so I haven't had a chance to reply, but they mean so, so much to me!
> 
> Shout out to Menckens Chrestomethy who has been with me since this chapter was verbatim "idk some stuff happens."
> 
> Also, low key I've watched the "Oh God" scene more than the I love yous because Alec worried Magnus is in danger is my jam and now we have a canon moment of it.

A quiet whimpering woke Alec up.

Alec had always been a light sleeper,  but he’d grown even more restless since Magnus had been attacked.  Besides the fact that he was constantly on high alert for Jackson and his ilk to come back and finish what they’d started, the lumpy cot Alec had been sleeping on had turned his back into knots.  He missed sleeping at the loft, in Magnus’s feather soft bed, with Magnus there to scratch his back and rub his shoulders whenever he wanted. 

He sat up slowly, looking around his dark room as awareness slowly came back to him.  He relaxed slightly as he realized no one was in the room with him.  His gaze shifted to Magnus.  The little boy was frowning, eyes clenched tightly shut as he rolled around in his sleep.  He was muttering something, whining lowly.  Alec activated his translation rune, and the Indonesian words morphed into English.   _ Please, Mommy, please. _

Alec felt as if someone had reached inside of his chest and squeezed.

Alec shuffled off the cot and over to the bed.  As Alec gently brushed Magnus’s hair off of his sweat-drenched forehead, Magnus broke into full on sobs, turning into Alec’s hand.  Alec frowned, convinced Magnus might choke he was crying so hard.  “Hey, Magnus,” he said.

Magnus jolted awake, gasping for breath.  His eyes roamed the room, glowing gold in the dark before he found Alec.  “ _ Alec, _ ” he sobbed.

“Shh, shh,” Alec comforted, scooping Magnus up in his arms.  Magnus clung to him,  soaking Alec’s shirt with snot as he cried.  Alec rubbed his hand up and down Magnus’s back, feeling the tremors.  He frowned--he could feel Magnus’s fever was back-- but he ignored it in favor of rocking Magnus in his arms.  He could feel Magnus’s hummingbird heart thudding against his chest.  He’d always loved holding Max like this when he’d been a baby; Alec had been too little himself to take care of Izzy when she was young, but he’d been fiercely protective of her all the same.  

He and Magnus had never talked about whether they wanted kids; they’d always been too busy fighting Valentine, and whatever other threat was threatening the world.  But he’d seen Magnus with baby Warlocks and mundanes enough to know Magnus was good with kids.  He always looked so  _ happy  _ to be around children, _ ,  _ and it made Alec love Magnus that much more.  

He regretted not asking Magnus, now, with his tinier self wrapped in Alec’s arms.  He wanted his Magnus back as soon as possible, and they had to reverse the spell regardless because of the Clave’s looming threat, but there was something precious about this moment.  If Alec closed his eyes, he could almost ignore the utter bizarreness of the situation and pretend that it was Magnus’s child he was holding.  

“You okay, buddy?”

Magnus whimpered in reply, burrowing his face further into Alec’s chest.  “ _ Mommy _ ,” he whimpered. “She. . .”

“It’s okay,” Alec whimpered.

“She died.  Because of me.  It was my fault.”

Alec’s heart sunk.  He didn’t know all of the details about Magnus’s childhood, but he did know what had happened to Magnus’s mother.  “No, it wasn’t, buddy.”

“Yes, it  _ was.   _ She did it because I’m a warlock.  Because I’m bad.  The Batavia Shadowhunters told me so.  My dad told me so.”

Alec sat Magnus down gently, pulling back just enough so that he could look Magnus in the eyes.  It seemed after Magnus’s previous outburst; he’d stopped hiding his fear and insecurities.  It was an odd feeling.  Alec had grown used to Magnus being vulnerable around him, but adult Magnus had, over several hundred years, grown comfortable with himself.  Young Magnus, fresh off the death of his mother that he blamed himself for, wasn’t so confident.  “You’re not bad because you’re a warlock.”

Magnus sniffed.  “You keep saying that.  I don’t believe you.”

“Hey,” he said, thumbing a tear off of Magnus’s cheek, “we’re best friends, remember?  I know you better than anybody.  You’re the greatest person I’ve ever met.”

Magnus looked at him skeptically.  “Yeah?”

Alec smiled.  “Yeah.”

~

“I need your help,” Alec said.  After Magnus had finally fallen asleep the night before, Alec had sat, staring at his tear stained face.  As much as it pained Alec to admit it, for this particular mission, Simon and Clary would be the most helpful.  “I want. . .” He took a deep breath, not meeting Simon and Clary’s eyes.  “I want to take somewhere Magnus fun.”  

Clary stared, but Simon’s face broke into a slow, bright grin.  “ _ True love, _ ” he breathed.  

Alec sighed.

Simon clapped his hands together.  “Maia and I were going to check out the carnival in Queens tonight.  We should get Izzy and Raph and Cat and all go!”

Clary laughed.  “Maia won’t care if we crash your date?”

“Nah, she loves Magnus,” Simon laughed.  “She’d probably leave me for him if she could.  She’s been dying to see the kid version.”

Alec rolled his eyes.  “I’m used to competition.  But, it’s not the worst idea I’ve ever heard,” he said.  Simon fist pumped.

“Let me go tell Jace,” Clary said, standing.  Alec nodded.  It would be nice to spend a night with everyone, without worrying about Jackson or Valentine or anyone else.  Magnus had taught Alec that.

And with the possibility of the Clave forcing their hand and trying to take Magnus to Idris, there was no telling how many of these nights they had left.

~

There was a certain charm about the carnival.

Alec had been to one once before, but he’d been on a hunt; the flashing lights and crowds of people had been nothing but a dangerous distraction.  Now, surrounded by friends and family and a wide-eyed Magnus, he could see the appeal.  The carnival was a riot of sights, sounds, and smells.  Parents milled by, tugged along by eager children, and couples huddled close in the chill air.  There were a million food stands, selling gross mundane concoctions that were probably still better than anything Izzy had cooked.  After getting tickets and some fried grease nonsense Clary called a funnel cake, they wondered around. Simon and Lydia got in a vicious competition over a ring toss, and Maia forced them all to ride the tilt o’whirl until Jace turned green.   Out of the corner of his eye, Alec caught Magnus staring at a giant teddy bear at one of the game booths.

“You wanna try for it?” he asked.

Magnus nodded shyly.  Alec smiled at him, squeezing his hand and leading him over to the line.  It was a darts game; it looked easy enough.  Alec could have beaten it when he’d been Magnus’s current age.  Alec slid over the required tickets, and Magnus was handed a small pile of darts.

Magnus looked down and picked one up carefully, biting his lip.  He squinted at the dart board; it was the same expression his adult self wore when puzzling over a particularly complex potion.  Catarina had glamored his eyes before they’d left the Institute, explaining that the mundanes wouldn’t be used to them.  Magnus had just given her a sad, unsurprised smile.

The first dart missed completely, nearing pinging the carnie in the process.  Alec winced, but Magnus adjusted, and the second one landed on the edge of the circle.  When he threw the third and last one, it landed closer to the center than Alec would have expected.   The vendor smiled,  apparently unfazed by the near miss with the dart, and handed down a small stuffed toy.  “Nice job, kid.”

Magnus smiled down at the small stuffed bird he’d won, giant teddy bear seemingly forgotten.  Alec slid a ticket over the counter.  “I want to try.”

Every dart was a bullseye. 

The vendor blinked, impressed.  “Choose your prize.”

When Magnus took the bear in his arms, he stumbled; the bear was as large as he was.  “Thank you, Alec,” he grinned.

“You’re welcome.”

“Ooh, Ferris wheel!” Clary yelled, tugging Jace behind her.

They split into pairs, boarding the rocky carts as the Ferris wheel slowly turned.  Alec couldn’t help but feel a little sad as he watched the others in the cars around them.  Jace and Clary were sucking face so hard that Alec felt an urge to put a hand over Magnus’s eyes, and Maia and Simon were Eskimo kissing, puppy love visible from several miles away.  Raphael and Cat were clearly comfortable with each other—Alec knew they’d been friends for a long time.  Even Izzy and Lydia seemed to be leaning into each other; he blinked when he realized that Izzy’s head was resting on Lydia’s shoulder.  

Magnus must have been watching too, because he said, “I bet you wish your boyfriend was here too right now, huh?”

Alec swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat.  Jace had told him about that particular conversation.  “I do.  But he can’t come home right now.  It’s not his fault, though.”

“He’s pretty?”

“He’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen,” Alec said.  “He’s funny and very sweet.”

Magnus was silent for a second.  “You love him?”    
  
“I do.”

“He’s lucky.”

“Nah,” Alec grinned.  “I’m the lucky one.”

~

When they returned to the Institute, laughing and smiling and sick from too much cotton candy, Victor was waiting for them.  “An envoy from the Clave will be here tomorrow to escort the warlock to Idris.”

~

Alec sighed, rubbing his hand over his face.  Victor had left quickly after he’d delivered his news, and the rest of them had filed off to a meeting room in something that felt like a funeral march.  Simon and Maia were with Magnus in Alec’s room, and Alec was so distraught that he couldn’t even make any snarky remarks about leaving Magnus in Simon’s care.  “What do we do?” he asked.  For once, he wanted someone to fix his problems instead of having to figure it out himself.  

“Cat and I just about have the antidote,” Izzy said. “If we could just buy a  _ little  _ more time.”

Lydia shook her head. “I can hold the Clave up for a few hours, but any longer and they’ll override me.”

Cat sighed.  “We need another day or two at least.”

“We have to run,” Alec said.  The knowledge had been deep in his bones since Victor had first mentioned the Clave’s plans days ago, but the thought of being permanently separated from his family was all becoming startlingly, horrifyingly real.

“Alec, no,” Jace breathed.  “We’ll figure this out.”

“How, Jace?  We’re out of time.”

Raphael leaned forward slowly.  “We just need to buy a day or so, right while Isabelle and Catarina finish the antidote, right?”  At everyone’s nods, he continued, “we can put him in DuMort.  The Clave would be starting a war if they came onto our territory.”

“Would he be safe there?” Clary asked.

Raphael glared.  “My clan isn’t violent.  And even if we were, I owe Magnus Bane my life a dozen times over.  I’d never let anything happen to him.”  He looked at Alec, the  _ unlike some people  _ left unspoken.

Catarina pursed her lips, ignoring the alpha posturing in the room.  “The Institute has technology that I don’t, but I know enough of what needs to go in the antidote that I just need to brew it.  I can do that with ingredients between my and Magnus’s lairs.”  

“But what about the rest of you?” Alec asked.  “Aldertree and the Clave aren’t stupid.  If Magnus and I vanish, they’ll all know you were involved.  They’ll come after you.  And Jackson is still out there.”

“Big brother,” Izzy said, putting her hand over Alec’s.  “Let us worry about that. Let’s get Magnus back first.”

Clary nodded, backing up Izzy’s statement.  “We should probably take him now, right?  Get him to safety as soon as possible.”

“We’re all holed up in here,” Lydia said. “Aldertree will be expecting us to pull something, and Cat can’t portal him out without setting off an alarm.  We’ll have to sneak him out the front door; we should wait for the right time.”

“And when’s that?” Jace asked.

She pursed her lips.  “Early morning, before the night shift ends.  The Institute is mostly dead then; that’s our best chance.  Once he’s out of bounds of the wards, we can portal him to DuMort.”

“That’ll give me and Izzy time to set up our supplies at DuMort,” Cat said.  “Once we run, we’ll have to lay low until Magnus is safe.”

“Okay,” Alec said.  “We’ll take him to DuMort tomorrow morning before the Clave gets here.”

~

When Alec retreated to his room, Simon and Maia frowned at him.  “He’s got a fever,” Maia said.

Alec sighed.  “It happened the other night; Cat thinks it’s a side effect of the potion.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“We think we have a way to fix him,” Alec said, not answering her question.  

Maia squeezed his arm as she and Simon left.  “Take care of him.”

He nodded, looking back at Magnus.  “Hey, buddy.”

“Hey,” Magnus said.  He was quiet, earlier exuberance completely gone.  Simon had taken the ridiculous bear Alec had won and propped it up on Alec’s bed; Magnus was nestled against it.  Alec swallowed.  The carnival felt like it had been years ago.

“Maia said you weren’t feeling well.”

Magnus shrugged, looking at the bed.  “I’m sorry I got you in trouble with your boss.”

Alec snorted.  “First of all, Victor is  _ not  _ my boss.  Second, you have nothing to apologize for.”  Magnus bit his lip.  “Seriously, Magnus.  I know things might be scary right now, but it’s not your fault.  And everything is going to be okay, I promise.”

Magnus nodded, but he didn’t seem convinced.

Alec helped him get ready for bed, changing him into a pair of footie pajamas covered with stars that Clary had bought.  Alec would never admit it, but they were pretty cute.  Magnus drifted off to sleep quickly, but Alec took a lot longer, mind swirling with everything that could go wrong with their plan.  

~

There was a noise in the dark, a quiet  _ snick  _ that woke Alec up, and at first he assumed Magnus was having another nightmare.  He opened his eyes, sitting up, but before he could process anything, something slammed into the back of his skull.

Alec crashed to the ground, head spinning with nausea.  A heavy boot landed on his back, and he felt the tip of a seraph blade hovering above the back of his neck.

“Fuck, don’t kill him,” a male voice hissed.  It was coming from the direction Magnus was in, and Alec thrashed, trying to get the person off of him.  “He has a parabatai.  You want the whole Insitute looking for us before we can even get out of the building?”

“Always a softy,” the voice above him said, and Alec froze.  Jackson.  How had he even gotten back in?  Jackson bent down, knotting thick rope around Alec’s wrists as he struggled.  He stuffed a gag in Alec’s mouth, and Alec tried in vain to bite his finger off.  

He was distracted by a shrieking.  Alec could turn his head just enough to see a blonde figure picking up a screaming and kicking Magnus--Alec recognized him instantly as Connor, the Columbus Shadowhunter that had been working with Victor before his disappearance. Alec had a sudden sinking feeling about how they’d gotten into the Institute.

“Alec!” Magnus shouted.  He said something else, writhing as Connor tied him up.  Alec’s translation rune had burned out in the night, but Alec could understand his name being called over and over.  Magnus got a hand free, and blue sparks flew at Connor.

“Fuck,” he hissed, nearly dropping Magnus.

“Shut him up.  Jesus.” Jackson said.  Connor nodded, pressing a cloth over Magnus’s nose and mouth.  Magnus thrashed once and went limp.  Alec screamed through the gag as Connor hefted his still body over his shoulder and carried him out of the room.  Before Alec could do anything else, Jackson’s boot slammed into his head, and everything went black.  


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so behind on replying to comments, but I appreciate them all so much! They seriously make my day.
> 
> Thanks as always to Menckens Chrestomethy for helping me out with this! This a shorter chapter, but it gets us to where we need to be.

“Alec? . . . Alec.   _ Alec!” _

It took a moment for Jace’s voice to come into focus.  Alec opened his eyes slowly.  Nausea swirled in his gut, and the back of his head throbbed.  “What—?”  he trailed off, confused.

“Thank  _ God _ ,” Jace breathed above him.  He reached out, stroking Alec’s hair from where Alec was draped across his lap.  Alec’s hands were free, and the gag was gone from his mouth.  Alec blinked, taking in the concerned face of his parabatai; as his body woke up, he could feel his parabatai rune burning with concern.  

Alec took a deep breath, trying to figure out what had laid him out cold.  He froze as he remembered Jackson and Connor, carrying Magnus’s limp body off into the darkness.  “Magnus?” he said, afraid to even ask.

Jace’s face fell.  “He’s not here,” Jace confirmed.  “What happened?”

“Jackson and Connor.”

“Fuck.  They took him?”  

Alec nodded, groaning as his head swam.

“Okay,” Jace soothed, running his hand through Alec’s hair again.  “We’ll find him.  But first—”  he quickly drew an iratze on Alec’s shoulder exposed from his tank top, and the nausea and headache faded.  

As the pain receded, Alec got his first good look at Jace.  His shirt was inside out, and there were heavy bags under his eyes.  He must have fallen asleep not too long ago himself, and been woken up by Alec getting his ass kicked.

“We need to move,” Alec said, sitting up.  

Jace squeezed his arm.  “Hang on.  Clary went to get Izzy and Lydia and Cat; let’s have a plan, first.”

Alec ignored him, grabbing the first thing he saw of Magnus’s.  He took the ridiculously large bear he’d had won for Magnus what felt like a million years ago; it must have fallen off in the scuffle.  Alec shoved it at Jace.  “Let’s track him.”

Jace sighed but nodded.  It felt a little silly, clutching the teddy bear between them, but Alec didn’t care.  He focused on Magnus as hard as he could, but no matter how hard he squeezed Jace’s hand, Magnus didn’t materialize in his mind.  Alec let go of Jace, throwing the bear down and marching across the room.  He wasn’t surprised that Jackson and Connor had been smart enough to cover their tracks, but to say he was furious was an understatement.

“Calm down, Alec,” Jace said. 

“Calm down?” Alec whirled around, staring at his parabatai disbelievingly.  “Jace, they kidnapped a child, and they’re planning to do God knows what to him while we’re sitting here twiddling our thumbs.  And you want me to calm down?”

“We’ll find him,” Jace repeated.  He had his hands out as if he was calming a startled animal.  “I’m just saying, let’s wait for the girls and not go in there without thinking things through like you usually do.”

Alec narrowed his eyes.  “What are you talking about, Jace?”

Jace bit his lip, and Alec could feel the hesitation rolling off of him.  “Alec, you are the most loyal person I know.  But sometimes. . . Sometimes your loyalty can be dangerous.  You don’t think things through when people you care about are in trouble, and you usually end up worse off because of it.  I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Alec snapped, slamming a fist into the wall.  “Magnus has  _ always _ been there.  He’s always helped me, protected me, put himself in the way of the clave, ever since I met him.  And now—.  And now, when he’s helpless and needs me to return the favor, I let people who want to hurt him take him.  It was my fault he was like this in the first place, and I  _ promised  _ him I would keep him safe.”

“He’ll be okay,” Jace reassured.

“You don’t know that.  He could be dead already.”  Alec ran a hand over his eyes.  “At least when Valentine had you I knew you were alive.”

Jace’s face fell.  “Alec. . .” 

“I’m sorry.”  Alec sighed.  “I just. . .I don’t know how I’ll survive if anything happens to him.”

Before Jace could respond, the girls stormed in.  They looked about as well as Jace and Alec.  Clary was in a baggy t-shirt that was definitely Jace’s, and Cat’s eyes were bloodshot.  Lydia looked like she’d been running her hand through her disarrayed hair all night.  She and Izzy and Cat were all in the clothes they’d been in earlier in the day; they must have still been up working to move everything to DuMort.  Izzy even had a smear of lipstick on her collarbone; Alec figured she must have been so distracted that she hadn’t noticed it.

“What happened?” Cat asked frantically, eyes darting around the room, obviously looking for Magnus.

“We were ambushed.  I couldn’t stop them,” Alec said.  The admission was sour in his throat.  

“They tied Alec up and knocked him unconscious,” Jace added.

“Jackson and Connor?” Lydia asked.  

“We couldn’t track him.  Cat, maybe you could?” Alec trailed off, nodding towards the bear he’d thrown down in his anger.

Cat nodded and gently picked up the bear.  When she opened her eyes after a second, she didn’t need to say anything; Alec knew she hadn’t found anything by the distraught look on her face.

“What now?” Clary asked.

“I’ll call for a patrol to scour the city,” Lydia said.  “We’ll have to bring Victor in for it, but at this point, he’s probably expecting it anyway.” 

“Wait,” Izzy said.  “You said Connor and Victor were working together, right?”   Lydia nodded.  “Well, let’s try tracking Victor.  They could be together, and they might not know we know Victor is helping them.”

A slow smile spread over Lydia’s face.  “Izzy, you’re a genius.”

Jace left, and it wasn’t long before he returned, holding a silky pocket square.  “He’s not in his office.  Or his room.”

“Let’s find out where he is, then,” Alec said, taking Jace’s hand again.  He focused, this time on Victor, imagining his snake-like charm and his boundless confidence.  Unlike when they’d been tracking Magnus, a location slowly materialized; Victor was too far away to see him directly, but Alec got an idea of what part of the city he was in, and it definitely wasn’t the Institute.

Alec sagged, letting go of Jace’s hand, before straightening up and forcing himself to focus on nothing but the mission.  “We’ve got him.  Let’s go.”

~

Alec took a second to get dressed before heading off to meet the others at the armory.  In the soft light of dawn, the Institute was mostly empty, and what few Shadowhunters he saw didn’t question his presence, especially not with Victor absent.   By the time he made it to the armory, Jace and Clary were already there and dressed, gearing up.  “Maia and Luke are going to meet us there,” Clary said as she secured her thigh holster.  “Raphael and Simon are stuck for now,” she said, waving toward where the sunlight was peeking through the window, “but they’ll be there as soon as the sun goes down.”

Alec grimaced.  “Let’s hope we don’t need them by that point.”  He turned toward Izzy.  She looked a little more together, and her whip was coiled faithfully on her wrist, but there was still—”You got lipstick on your neck.”

She blushed.  “Oh.  Oops.”

Clary laughed.  “It’s not the color you’re wearing.  You must have borrowed it from Lydia, huh?”  Alec rolled his eyes.  It seemed silly to him to be swapping makeup tips at a time like this, but if it gave them a little bit of a reprieve, who was he to judge?

The building they’d tracked Victor to was a warehouse in a more isolated part of town. Alec supposed it made sense that the bad guys never picked the middle of downtown for their hide outs, but damn, it would be nice for a raid to be near a subway stop for once.

Sure enough, Luke winced when he and Maia approached the rest of them outside of the building.  “Well, this is the perfect creepy hide out for an evil genocidal villain.”

“Thanks for coming,” Alec said.

The alpha shrugged nonchalantly.  “These nut jobs are threatening all downworlders.  And even if they weren’t, Magnus is a good friend, and they killed a member of my pack.”

“Okay, let’s see if we can get a better idea of what we’re up against,” Jace said, handing the pocket square to Alec.  This time, all he saw was blackness.  “Damn,” Jace muttered.  “They must have wised up and cloaked Victor.”

Luke sniffed.  “He’s definitely been here.  Hopefully we haven’t missed them.”

“Okay,” Alec said.  “Let’s head in before we lose our chance.  Izzy and I’ll take point, and Jace and Luke, you guys take the rear.  Stay close; we don’t know what we’re up against.”

They all walked cautiously towards the building, but before Alec could reach for the door, a smooth voice called out: “Hold on, now.  We’ve got one more.”

Alec tensed, turning around to see Victor, just on the edge of the parking lot.  

He was dressed more casually than usual, but the same self-satisfied smirk was on his face.  “Going on an unsanctioned mission; you know better than that,” he tsked at Lydia.  He ignored Alec and the others completely.

“Magnus was taken,” she responded cooly.  “Time was of the essence.  You were unavailable, so I approved it.  How did you find us?” 

He smiled, and Alec tensed.  “You left enough of your things lying around; it wasn’t hard.  Since this situation is of particular importance to the Clave, I thought it best to come and supervise.”

Alec took a step forward, fists clenching, but Izzy’s hand on his arm stopped him.  “We appreciate the help,” she said cordially.  Alec flinched.  “We were just about to head in; would you like to take point with Alec and me?”

Victor smiled and stepped up to join them.  “Play this carefully,” Izzy whispered under her breath.  “If he doesn’t know we’re on to him, he may lead us to Magnus to keep his cover.”

Alec took a deep breath.  As usual, Izzy was right, as much as it pained Alec to admit it.

The tension was palpable as they entered the building.  Victor had thrown a wrench into their group, and they were all aware of not only the darkness that loomed ahead but of the potential traitor in their midst.  There were no lights in the damp warehouse; they quickly brought out their witch lights, which cast eerie shadows in the dark halls.  The hall opened up into a large, mostly empty room, obviously used for storage.  Alec’s heart sank.  There was no trace of Magnus or Jackson and Connor or anyone, really.

Maia shook her head, heading confidently towards a pallet lying discarded on the floor.  She shoved it aside.  “Here,” she called, gesturing to a trap door underneath.  

They went one at a time down a rickety ladder, and it was clear that this part of the building had seen more recent use.  Detritus was everywhere, and there dusty footprints on the rough wood floor.  A chill shot down Alec’s spine as he saw a few scattered drops of blood.

As they wandered on, Victor tensed.  “I think we should turn back; it’s doubtful there’s anything this far in.”

Alec sped up; if Victor was cautioning them against going forward, then they had to be close to Magnus.

Sure enough, down the dimly lit hallway, a series of prison cells emerged.  Alec surged forward, hoping to find Magnus, but as he approached, his sense of hope dimmed.  There was a terrible smell, suggesting that if anyone were down here, they had been prisoner much longer than the few hours Magnus had been gone. 

Alec stared, frozen in place, as he spotted a body lying limp in one of the cells.  The person was so covered with grime and a thick beard that it was difficult to make out the person underneath.  Their left leg was bent at an unnatural angle, and their chest rose shallowly.

“What. . .”  Izzy trailed off as she slowed to a stop beside Alec.

Dark eyes blinked open, and the body in the cell gasped, struggling to pull himself up.  “Look out,” he croaked, and despite the hoarseness of the voice, Alec would recognize the velvet British undertones of Victor Aldertree anywhere.  


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to Menckens Chrestomethy! Just one chapter left--it's mostly done, so I'mma try to get it up this week. I appreciate all of your lovely comments so much!

Jace was towards the back of their group, so when Izzy and Alec took off running at something, he couldn’t see what had caught his siblings attention.  

What he could see, however, was Victor running after them.  

“Fuck,” Maia growled from beside him.  For once, he agreed with her. 

They surged forward to see Izzy and Alec frozen in place, staring into something that looked like a prison cell.  Jace could barely make out a prone body--it figured these sick fucks had locked up more than just Magnus.  Izzy and Alec didn’t seem to hear all of them running closer, and Jace watched in horror as Victor lifted a seraph blade, poised to strike Alec right in the back.  None of them were close enough to stop him.  

Izzy whirled around at the last possible second, spotting Victor.  She yelled and snapped her wrist, her whip coiling into a staff.  She brought the staff down in front of Alec; Victor’s seraph blade slammed into it, sending Izzy stumbling back with the impact. 

By this time, Alec had turned around too, looking furious.  Whatever was in the cell, it had pissed him off even more than he had already been.  Victor was already slashing his sword again, but this time, Alec was able to pull out his own blade.  They clashed and parted, eyeing each other wearily.

Jace and the others drew closer, their own weapons brandished.  “You’re surrounded, Victor,” Luke said, causing Victor to turn.  He spun slowly, eyeing them all.   “There’s nowhere to go.”

“Where’s Magnus?” Alec hissed, low and furious.  “Who are you?”

Jace blinked, confused at the question, but Victor laughed.  “Fuck you.  You’d best kill me, because I won’t tell you anything, you--”

Victor’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed harmlessly to the ground.  Jace looked to his left as Cat lowered her hand, red magic dissipating harmlessly into the air.   She rolled her eyes.  “Why do these assholes always have to give such grandiose speeches?”

They all stared at her before Izzy shook her head, turning back around to the cell.  She looked at the door consideringly before pulling out her stele and drawing the unlock rune and opening the door.

“What is it?” Jace asked.  Whatever had caught their attention, it clearly wasn’t Magnus.  

“It’s Victor,” Alec said.

Clary blinked.  “Come again?”

Sure enough, Izzy emerged a second later, a very rough-looking Victor practically draped across her shoulder.  He had nothing of his usual polished image;  he was covered in dark grime, and his suit was tattered and torn.  His left leg was clearly broken; he let out a strangled gasp as Izzy gently lowered him to the ground outside of the cell.  Cat was immediately by his side, her magic, once again a soft pink, sinking into his leg.

She bit her lip.  “It’s broken pretty badly.  There’s infection.  I can help with the pain, but you’ll need a while to recover.”

“Victor,” Alec said flatly.  “What happened?  How did you get here?"   


Victor took a deep breath as Cat’s pain numbing magic apparently went to work.  He nodded to his doppelganger sprawled on the floor.  “Transformation rune.  His left collarbone.”

Jace flipped the unconscious body over, not bothering to be gentle. He pulled the collar of the sweatshirt aside; sure enough, the transformation rune was visible.  Jace tugged his stele out of his pocket and drug it over the rune. The glamor faded.  Victor’s skin grew paler, his hair lengthening into a bright blonde, not unlike Jace’s own.  Jace drew back.  “Uh. . .Does anybody know who this is?”

“It’s the guy that killed Stephen,” Luke said flatly.  “He was working with Jackson.”

“His name’s Connor,” Alec added.  “He was with Jackson when they broke in last night.”

“He brought me here,” Victor said.  “He locked me up.”

“You were working with him,” Lydia said. “Back at the Institute.”

“I needed a right-hand man I could trust.”  Victor rolled his eyes.  “ _ Clearly _ that backfired, but everyone in the New York Institute was loyal to the Lightwoods, I couldn’t trust they wouldn’t be tattling on me  to the Clave the second I turned my back.  And you’d made your side clear,” he said, nodding at Lydia.  “I thought if I worked with someone from another Institute, I wouldn’t have to deal with constantly worrying about whether I had a mole on my hands.

“Connor seemed like a good fit, and he was a hard worker.  When he told me he’d found something potentially dangerous on patrol he needed to show me, I didn’t think twice.”

“That’s the same line Jackson used on me and Magnus,” Alec muttered.

Victor’s eyes narrowed.  “So he got to the Warlock, then, I’m assuming.”

Alec nodded, not even bothering to correct him with Magnus’s name.  “Wait.  You weren’t here for that?  How long have you been here?”

“A week or so?  When Connor brought me here, he told me about his idea to turn those with demon blood into mundanes.  He wanted my help in testing it.  I told him that we as Shadowhunters couldn’t tolerate that sort of nonsense and the next thing I knew I was in this cell.”

Alec’s eyes narrowed.  “You didn’t agree with him.”

Victor rolled his eyes.  “I may not be keen on the idea of over-friendliness between shadowhunters and downworlders, but it’s our responsibility to keep them safe just as much as it Mundanes.”  

Alec was tense with hostility.  “I didn’t know you were such a fan of downworlders.”

Victor sighed.  All the cockiness faded from him, and he looked tired and grey.   “What he wanted to do was tantamount to genocide.”

There was silence at the unexpected admission before Izzy asked, “How did your leg get broken?”

Victor smirked, bravado restored.  “Well, I didn’t say I stayed put.”

“We’re gonna have to take them to Idris,” Lydia said, all levity gone as she transformed into the leader she natural was.  “Cat, can you open us a portal?  Clary and Luke, I’ll need your help getting Victor and Connor through.”  

“I don’t think they’ll take kindly to a werewolf in Idris,” Luke said cautiously.

Lydia rolled her eyes, a bit of levity breaking through.  “They’ll get over it; they should be falling over their ass to welcome a Garroway.”  Clary nodded fiercely as if she could wipe out centuries of prejudice with her stubbornness.  Jace didn’t entirely agree, but he was glad Lydia hadn’t asked him or Izzy to go instead. Depending on what they found deeper into the warehouse, Alec could very much be needing his siblings support.  

Luke slung Connor over his shoulder as Lydia and Clary stood Victor up between them. “Wait,” Victor said, panting now that he was upright.  “The Clave will want a full report on this.”

Lydia frowned.  “They were more interested in Jackson’s methods than they cared to admit.  The Conner version of you was in regular contact with them.”

“Well, I haven’t seen anything,” Victor shrugged nonchalantly.  “And if they don’t have Jackson’s notes or the Warlock, it certainly will be hard to recreate his methods.”

Alec nodded at Victor before he, Lydia, Clary, and Luke disappeared through the portal.  

The rest of them stared before Alec squared his shoulders.  “Let’s keep moving.”

They crept down the hallway silently, one at a time.  It grew darker as they moved forward. “It’s like a fucking horror movie,” Maia muttered under her breath.  

A little bit farther, they heard a low voice.  They paused, and someone let out a small cry.   _ Magnus.   _

At that, Alec bolted, all pretense of quietness gone.  Izzy swore and took off after him, keeping pace despite her shorter legs and tall heels.  Jace followed, Cat and Maia close behind.  

They burst into a small room, and it took Jace a moment to get his bearings.  The room was littered with vials and potions not dissimilar to how Jackson’s room had been in the Institute.  Magnus was curled up on the floor, tears streaking his small face; the sleeve of his nightshirt had been ripped off, and blood was trickling out of the corner of his elbow.  There were bruises around his tiny wrists.

Jace saw red, and it wasn’t only his anger--he could feel white hot fury radiating through his parabatai bond.  That finally made him tear his eyes away from Magnus to focus on Alec. The others were hovering around him cautiously; Alec had Jackson pinned to the wall, seraph blade held up to his neck. 

Jace kept an eye on Alec, making sure he didn’t snap and stab Jackson, as he ran his stele over his translation rune and bent down to look Magnus.  He was trembling, and his golden eyes were bloodshot.  This close up, Jace could see more bruises.  He held out his arms.  “Hey kiddo,” he said softly, “you okay?”  

At that, Magnus cried harder, rushing into Jace’s arms.  Jace pulled Magnus to his chest and wrapped him up in his arms, standing so that he could keep an eye on Alec, who was saying something low and quite to Jackson.  He frowned; Magnus was burning up.  “They poked me in the arm,” Magnus sobbed.  “And my head feels funny.”

Jackson’s voice rose.  “Everyone talks about the great Alec Lightwood; I can’t believe you’d let yourself be fucked by a filthy downworlder—“

The seraph blade pressed deeper into Jackson’s throat, and a thin red line appeared.  “Say one more thing about him, and I’ll slit your throat.”

“Alec,” Jace said, lowly.  It required too much energy to speak to where Magnus couldn’t understand him with the translation rune burning, so Jace didn’t bother.  “You don’t want to do that.”   
  
No one needed a parabatai bond to feel the anger rolling off Alec.  “No, I really think I do,” he said, digging his blade deeper into Jackson’s neck.  

Magnus whimpered, burying his head into Jace’s chest.  Alec obviously heard the sound, because he slumped, the anger draining from his body.  He let the knife drop and shoved Jackson one more time into the wall before turning to the rest of them.  “Get him out of here.”

They looked at each other before Izzy stepped up.  “I’ll take him to Idris.  Cat and I have finished the potion; it just needs to be administered.”

Cat nodded at her, snapping her fingers to open a portal.  Izzy flicked her whip, winding it around Jackson and shoving him none too gently towards the portal.  They disappeared, and Alec sagged, the fight gone.  He stepped over to Jace, and Magnus immediately pulled away, reaching towards Alec.  Alec took Magnus in his arms, and any trace of the warrior Alec had been moments ago was gone.  Magnus burrowed his head into Alec’s chest.

“I’m taking him back to the loft.  I don’t trust the Institute anymore.”

Jace nodded.  “We’ll come with you.  Keep watch.”

Cat opened up yet another portal, but Maia hung back.  “I’ll stay here.  Clean up.”

“Clean up?” Jace asked incredulously.  

She nodded.  “It seems like your boy isn’t going to rat us out.  If Jackson has to start his shit from scratch, it might be difficult for him to replicate it.”

“Even if harder if someone had, say, cursed him so that he couldn’t speak about it without excruciating pain,” Cat said.  The two women smiled deviously at each other.  As Jace followed Alec into the portal, he heard the whoosh of fire behind him.  It was almost comforting, in a way.

~

As he stepped into the loft, Magnus clinging to him tightly, Alec felt a little dizzy.  It was the first time he had returned to the loft since Magnus had been attacked, and even without Magnus-- _ his  _ Magnus--with him, it still felt like coming home.  He’d had a sharp pain his gut ever since Magnus had been taken, and, with Magnus back in his arms, no matter what state, he felt finally a little bit at ease.

He went to set Magnus down on the couch for a moment to take off his quiver, but Magnus whimpered and clung tighter.  To be honest, Alec had no desire to let him go either.  Finally, Jace rolled his eyes and pulled out a knife, out of sight of Magnus.  He stepped up, neatly slicing through the holster on Alec’s quiver.  It would be a pain to replace, but Alec would rather set his quiver on fire than let go of Magnus right now. 

Cat, also at ease in her longtime friend’s lair, headed towards the library.  “I have to pull a few ingredients together,” she called over her shoulder, “but Izzy was right.  We’ve basically finished the potion.”

Alec nodded, hugging Magnus closer to him.  “Just give me a minute with him, okay?”

Jace stepped out onto the balcony.  “I doubt anyone will try anything, but it doesn’t hurt to be sure.”

Alone at last, Alec settled on the couch, Magnus in his arms.  “Are you okay?” he asked.  He was almost afraid to ask, too scared to learn what Jackson and Connor had done to him.  

Magnus sniffed, nodding.  “I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Alec said, tilting Magnus’s head up to look at him.  “Why are you sorry?”  If anyone should be sorry, it was Alec--he’d let Magnus be taken--but Alec wasn’t about to project his guilt on a small child.  

“They hurt you because of me.  And then you had to hurt them.”

“Hey, buddy, none of that was your fault.  They were fuc-- _ stupid  _ jerks.  What they did was wrong; they couldn’t see how great you are.”

Magnus muttered something.  “What was that?”   
  
Magnus huffed.  “I said-- _ you  _ obviously don’t think I’m that great.  You all want to turn me back.”

Alec froze, unsure how to respond.  He’d thought of little else except for turning Magnus back the last few days.  The only time he hadn’t considered it was when he thought they might have to go on the run from the Clave.  He hadn’t put much thought into what this Magnus would want.  Once Magnus returned to his regular self, this tiny, adorable version of Magnus would cease to exist, and that hit Alec with an unexpected pang of loss.  “Do you. . .do you not want to turn back?”

Magnus was quiet for a minute.  “You said you and I were best friends, right?”

“Yeah, we are,”

“I wouldn’t want you to be sad and miss your friend.”

“We’re best friends no matter what you’re like, buddy,” Alec said.  Despite himself, there was a lump in his throat.

“Mm,” Magnus said.  “I wouldn’t want you to be sad,” he said again.  He was clearly falling asleep, exhausted from the trauma he’d been through, and before Alec could respond, he heard faint snores as Magnus’s head settled on Alec’s chest.

As Magnus slept, Alec thought about what he’d said.  He’d meant what he’d said on their first date; until Magnus, Alec had thought the possibility of love wasn’t in the cards for him.  Maybe he had been right, after all.  Maybe this was the universe’s fucked up way of telling Alec he could never have someone as kind and caring as Magnus Bane love him.

By the time Catarina emerged from the library, braids falling out of her previously immaculate ponytail, Alec had worked himself into quite a funk.  “It’s ready,” she said.

“I don’t know, Cat,” he said,  cradling Magnus gently as he sat  up.  “I don’t know if--” He stopped.  Magnus, so tiny in Alec’s long arms, was no longer breathing.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it folks! Think you for all of your kind words and for joining me on this journey.

Alec was barely aware of Catarina bolting over the couch to examine Magnus.  She tilted his head up, her fingers going blue at the tips; maintaining her glamor was surely the last thing on her mind at the moment.  “Move,” she hissed, but Alec stayed frozen, unwilling to let Magnus go for anything.  Instead of giving Catarina room to examine Magnus, he curled over Magnus protectively.  She said something, but Alec couldn’t hear it over the roaring in his ears and the stillness of Magnus’s heartbeat.

Suddenly, there were hands tugging Alec backwards.  He fought, twisting to get out of the hold, determined that no one would separate him from Magnus again.  “Alec, _Alec,”_ someone was saying, and Alec stopped fighting as Jace’s voice filtered through his racing thoughts.  Jace pulled him back again, and this time Alec didn’t fight.  He sat, frozen, propped up against Jace as Cat’s magic engulfed Magnus.

When Alec had first gotten involved with Magnus, people had warned him that Magnus was dangerous, that Magnus would hurt him.  If the warlock didn’t kill with him with rogue magic, then Magnus and his reputation for sleeping around would surely break Alec’s heart.  Alec had ignored all of the naysayers, and, as his relationship with Magnus had solidified, Alec had come to realize that under his suave shell, Magnus was the gentlest soul Alec had ever known.  

Alec knew Magnus would never hurt him intentionally.  But as he watched Cat frantically push her magic into Magnus’s still chest, Alec realized that his critics had been right: Magnus did have the ability to destroy him.

“I’ve stabilized him for now,” Cat said, slumping onto floor what felt like days later. Alec couldn’t tear his eyes away from the slow rise and fall of his chest.  “It won’t hold forever, though.”

“What happened to him?” Jace asked.  His hand on Alec’s shoulder was the only thing keeping Alec from shaking apart.  Izzy had texted them earlier—the Clave had pulled them all into questioning when they’d arrived in Idris with two prisoners and an injured Victor in tow, and they showed no sign of letting up.

Cat sighed.  “The spell is trying to finish the job it started; his magic is trying to eat itself.  We have to turn him back as soon as possible.”  She stood abruptly, heading back towards the library.

Alec nodded, not saying anything.  

Jace squeezed his shoulder.  “How are you holding up?”

Alec sighed.  “He was upset about being turned back earlier.”  He wasn’t entirely sure what he was saying.  “I feel fucked up about this.”

“Alec,” Jace said bewilderingly.  “He almost _died._ If we don’t turn him back, he won’t be upset; he’ll be dead.”

Alec swallowed.  “Okay.”

Cat returned with a vial of clear liquid in her hand.  After everything that had happened, Alec found it hard to believe that a little sip of water would fix everything.  

“I have to wake him up,” Cat said, magic sinking into Magnus once again.  She looked up at Alec.  “The spell will hurt him, but once we start, we can’t stop.”

They’d stopped to change Magnus into a large cotton robe—it was large enough so that grown Magnus wouldn’t change back naked, but it engulfed his presently small body.  His eyes fluttered open, and he sat up slowly.  “Why are you all staring at me?”

“Hey buddy,” Alec said.  He swallowed.  “You got for a sick for a while, but Miss Catarina has a potion to make you better.”

Magnus looked between the seemingly innocent vial and the serious look on Cat’s face.  “I’m scared,” Magnus said quietly.  

Alec leaned forward and kissed his forehead. It was burning with fever, and Alec felt another pang of guilt that he hadn’t noticed earlier. .  “I know.  I need you to be brave for me, okay?”

Magnus nodded, and despite his trembling, there was determination in his golden eyes.  Even now, it was easy to see shades of the loving, loyal man Alec would come to love.  Alec took his hand—Alec’s dwarfed Magnus’s—and squeezed.  Magnus drank the potion, and Alec nodded at Cat.  She snapped her fingers; her magic surrounded Magnus.  

Magnus screamed.

Alec was sure he was going to have nightmares about the sound of small Magnus screaming until the day he died.  Alec squeezed his hand—all he could do—Catarina’s warning that once they started, nothing could stop ringing in his ears.  A bright light engulfed them; Alec had to shut his eyes.  He never let go of Magnus’s hand, despite the fact that he could feel the bones shifting and stretching, becoming softer and less calloused.  Magnus had tried to get Alec to have a manicure with him numerous times; it stood to reason that as a child, Magnus hadn’t had access to all of his favorite lotions and potions.

The light faded.

Alec couldn’t look at Magnus directly at first, too nervous to see what he would find.  Instead, he looked down at their linked hands.  The nails were disconcertingly blank; the only time Alec had seen Magnus without nail polish was when he was stripping his current coat off to redo his nails.   Long, golden fingers were intertwined with his; a delicate wrist transitioned into a strong, muscular forearm.

Alec followed that forearm past bulging biceps that the robe couldn’t entirely hide and broad shoulders up to Magnus’s face.   _His_ Magnus.  His adult Magnus, his lover, his partner.  Who was looking utterly confused.  

Alec sobbed and grabbed him in a crushing hug.  He heard Cat slide off the couch, she and Jace tip-toeing out of the room.  Magnus patted him consolingly on the shoulder.  “Alec?” he asked, obviously still completely bewildered.

Alec pulled back long enough to look at his face.  It was bare of makeup, but his goatee had remained, framing his plush lips.  Alec wouldn’t resist; he swooped in to kiss him.  Magnus gasped before eventually getting with the program and kissing back.

“Well, hello,” Magnus said, panting.  “It seems I missed something.”

In response, Alec reached out and stroked the side of his face.  Alec’s hands were shaking.  “When you’re better, I wanna talk.”  Magnus’s face fell.  “I wanna get married,” Alec said.  “I’m not proposing because we need to talk about it first, but I wanna get married and have kids and spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Alec,” Magnus said, bringing his hand to cover Alec’s.  “What in the world happened?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”  
  
Magnus’s brows furrowed.  “The attack from Jackson.”

“You got hurt,” Alec said simply.  “Badly.”

Magnus’s face softened.  “Well, it seems like you fixed whatever it was, so thank you, Alexander.”

He pressed his forehead to Magnus’s, trying not to sob.  “I’m just glad you’re back.”

Magnus chuckled.  “Consider it payback for the time you almost died tracking Jace.  Watching someone you care about be unconscious for a few days isn’t fun, is it?”

Alec winced.  “You, uh, you weren’t exactly unconscious.”

“Oh?” Magnus frowned.  “Oh god, I wasn’t speaking in Pig Latin, was I?  That happened to Ragnor and I one time in India.”

“So Jackson had this crazy idea that he could neutralize downworlders by turning them into mundanes,” Alec explained.  “Only whatever potion he concocted didn’t quite work; instead of removing your magic it sent you back to when it first materialized.”

“When my _magic_ first materialized?  But I was a little boy when that happened.”  Magnus stared at him, and Alec nodded slowly.  “Oh my god,” Magnus said, horrified.

Alec felt himself smile.  “I’m pretty Jace took plenty of pictures for blackmail if you don’t believe me.”

Magnus didn’t smile back.  “I’m sorry you had to deal with that.  I know I wasn’t the easiest child.”

Alec pulled his hand out from under Magnus’s to run it through Magnus’s soft hair.  “You were pretty adorable, actually.”

Magnus took a deep breath, not meeting his eyes.  “What. . .what did you call me?”

“You told us your name was something that translated to demon.  You said your father called you that.”

“Well, my stepfather, technically.  And it’s not like he was wrong—I mean, you know where warlocks come from.”  

Alec didn’t chase that statement, mentally making a note to talk to Magnus about it later. “We just called you Magnus after that.  You never told us your real name.”

Without any makeup and without any glamour, Alec could see every emotion that passed through Magnus’s eyes.  “You’ve never asked.  Are you curious?”

“I mean, if you feel comfortable trusting me with that, I’d be honored.  But .  . .” Alec shrugged.  “I don’t want to say I don’t care, because I want to know everything about you, but it wouldn’t really matter to me if you wanted me to call you Redbeard the Pirate.”

Magnus smiled wildly; it was blinding it was so beautiful.  And Magnus leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

**Epilogue**

Several weeks later, Magnus cornered Alec in the kitchen.  "Did I do something wrong? You've hardly touched me the last few weeks."

"No!" Alec winced.  He’d been dumb to think Magnus wouldn’t notice he’d pulled away once the shock of having him back to normal had faded, but.  "It's, uh, it's pretty stupid."

"Try me."

Alec sighed.  "Okay, so you know all those stories about men who become less attracted to their wives after they have a baby because the guy sees them as a mom?"

Magnus laughed. "You see me as a mom?"

"No, I see _me_ as a mom. I mean, you were this cute little kid who drooled on me and I can't. . . quite reconcile that with the walking six pack I normally see you as."

Magnus snickered.

"You're not mad?" Alec asked helplessly.  

"No, I get it. You don't think I've struggled with how much older I am than you? I knew your mother when she was pregnant, Alec."

Alec gagged.  "Oh, god, please never mention that again."

"It'll pass. Or,” Magnus smiled, “we can be creepy old cougars together. Your choice."

Alec sighed, but let Magnus pull him into his arms.  “I really, _really_ like the idea of us being old together.”

**Author's Note:**

> Join me on tumblr at ohlafraise.tumblr.com.


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